Genesis
by Huldra Nix
Summary: Ends are very often just a new beginning. A Species must either evolve or perish, this is true no matter how advanced they may be and this Cybertronians must learn the hard way. Sam may have been the messenger but what they didn't know was that his cousin was the answer. There is no such thing as coincidence in the universe, everything has a reason, a time and a place.
1. A Fresh Start

A/N: I own nothing, except perhaps the slightly modified plot, Evie and a few other OC's dotted throughout the story and whatever fluff gets thrown around at alarming rates. I'd like to begin by saying My plan is to do all three movies, with time in between each to sort of buffer the huge time skips and you know...add more awesomeness. Lets face it, the movies we're pretty confusing and fast paced. Who doesn't want more Bumblebee love? or explanations about awkward things for Prime's sake.

Consider this a Semi-reboot, and I pray you enjoy it. I'll be interlacing lots of Transformers stuff from different sources, adding my own spin and by the love of coffee, Sam and Mikaela are gonna stick it out and end up back together no matter what. ( no offense to any Carly lovers, but two movies of those two and then a new female lead was a killer- plus she was a tad bit annoying.) Any other couplings will be announced later, but I'm leaning towards Bee/Evie...

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**Genesis  
**  
By Huldra Nix

_There is a woman at the beginning of all great things_.  
-Alphonse De Lamaratine

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The California sun heated her pale skin uncomfortably even as she fanned herself with a paperback book furiously. 'Sam, hurry up, I'm dying here!' she heaved a forlorn sigh and pushed her sun glasses to the top of her head. "Uncle Ron, can we please put the AC on?"

Today was an bad day to wear a black shirt, even if it did hang off one shoulder.

"That's a waste of money Evie, do you know how much gas it takes to run the Air conditioner? Gas just isn't the price it used to be." Ron Witwicky complained even as he wiped a bit of sweat from his balding head. "You should have worn sun screen." He noted, poking one of her cheek bones. "You're turning a bit pink."

"Aunty is right, you are pretty cheap." Evie clicked her tongue, ignoring his sunscreen comment as she gave her eyes a good rolling. "I can't believe Sam is already seventeen! I feel like it was just yesterday that I was driving him around and giving him advice about girls." which he ignored eighty percent of the time to her equal amusement and chagrin. 'I'm think I'm sort of going to miss chauffeuring him…' Remembering that doing so meant Miles tagging along dried the thought up quickly though.

"That _was_ yesterday," Ron snorted, adjusting his rear-view mirror. "Think he got all three A's?"

"Touché…Sam's smart- and desperate for that car, so probably." Evie paused, rifling a hand through her hair; the golden strands caught the sunlight as she idly checked the ends for damage. "Oh, we're about to find out, because here he comes." She stated, dropping the hair and waving energetically. "Hey Sammy!" She cooed, beaming at him brightly. To her, he was and always would be the little brother she never had but wanted.

Sam groaned, throwing his head back. "What are you doing here? And don't call me that _Va-nes-sa_." He stressed the name in warning, watching as her nose crinkled in distaste. "Get in the back." He shooed her with the papers in his hands.

"Don't call me that! You know how I feel about that name..." She squinted her blue-green eyes to get a good look at the papers he was holding. "And miss the face of my Favorite guy's face when he gets his first car? I think not! Ooh I see an A-!" She sang, climbing into the back seat.

"There better be two more A's in there." Ron called, holding his hands out to see the proof.

"Two A's and an A-! So now, about that car dad…" Sam said rubbing his hands together as a grin grew across his face from ear to ear. He settled into the passenger seat and buckled himself in; his whole being was humming with pride and excitement. 'This is it.' He thought eagerly. 'This is the beginning of my adult life.' And he could not wait for it.

Ron shifted the car into drive, shaking his head. "Alright, alright, settle down…" he wondered where they got all their energy from, but then he thought of his wife and it all made sense. 'That woman is crazy.' And he loved her for it, usually.

The drive from his high school and out to where the car dealerships had to be the longest ride he'd ever taken, and it was only made worse by his Cousin's overly quiet behavior. When he turned back to look at her, all he got was an eye full of the paperback she was reading. "New book?" She was more than halfway through it.

"Uh-huh, I just got it this morning." Evie mumbled, turning a page and then another under a minute. "It's about Anthropological science fiction. It's actually pretty bland-not what I thought it would be at all." But it was something to read, and she was never picky about that. "Want to read it when I'm done?"

Sam shook his head furiously. "Sounds way to Academic for me, not everyone is a genius who can get into med school at age 16." for the life of him, he couldn't understand why she had to set the hurdle so damn high for everyone else in the family. It just wasn't normal, but hell he wasn't above reaping the benefits of having an on call doctor.

"It wasn't as great as you make it sound." Evie scoffed, shutting her book with a quick snap. "It was awful, all the staring and the rude people…I had no social life." Not much had changed to be honest.

"Getting a full free ride to one of the top medical schools in the United States? Cry me a river." Ron mumbled, wishing her ingenuity had rubbed off on his own kid just a little bit. He sighed dreamily at the thought of all the free money he could have been raking in.

"And yet, for all that education she's 21, _and_ crashing at our place like a homeless person." Sam smirked, turning his head to glance into the back seat. "Oh come on, don't pout! Don't give me that face." The face where her eyes got all big and watery and her bottom lip tucked into a full blown sad face. "You know we love having you stay with us." And that was the truth. She was the closest thing he ever had as a sibling, and when she left for college he thought he'd die of boredom- or loneliness.

She'd been a part of his household life for three years, living with him, eating breakfast across from him, laughing and crying with him and at him and all of a sudden she just left one day for college way earlier then anyone had ever expected. It left an empty, vacant spot in his life. He never wanted to feel that way again.

"You're just saying that." Evie sniffled melodramatically, tilting her head up towards the sunny sky. "There's nothing great about being around me at all.

"Oh that's not true, I mean you helped me with my homework, and drove me places, and you make some pretty damn swanky food." Sam grinned, peering into the backseat.

"That's true." Ron agreed, nodding his head. "Not to mention the stitches after he wiped out on that skateboard you saved us a fortune. Speaking of food, you wanna cook tonight?" he asked hopefully.

Even though she was smiling, she couldn't help but play it up "Oh, I see how it is with you guys! Use me and abuse me. That's cold." She sighed, placing a hand over her head. "But…Since I love you all so…I guess I can take it, and no way! I made breakfast today, it's your turn."

"It was worth a try." Ron said, shaking his head. It looked like he would be grilling tonight. "Alright, I've got a little surprise for you Son!" He slowed down, taking a turn.

"What kinda surprise?" Sam asked suspiciously, his brows knitting in confusion.

The forest-green vintage car they were driving in pulled into a Porsche dealership, the shiny newly painted cars gleaming brightly. "A little surprise..." Ron said, snickering under his breath.

"No. No, No, No!" Sam punched the air excitedly, the Auto-magazine he'd been flipping through idly was pressed to his lips, fighting to hide the grin slapped across his face. "Dad, you gotta be kidding me!"

Ron laughed so hard he nearly drove them off the road. "I am! There is no way I'm buying you a Porsche! What are you, crazy?" a few more words followed, broken by his uncontrollable laughter.

The giggling in the back seat only incensed him more. "You two think this is funny? It's not!"

Amused that he even fell for such a setup Evie rolled her eyes. "I think you forgot who your dad was for a minute there Sammy, besides, who wants a Porsche anyways?" She preferred cars with character and history. 'That's why I have a 1981 CJ-7 Jeep.' And she loved the damn thing no matter how much gas it guzzled. It would take her just about anywhere she wanted to go, and the new paint job it was getting as they spoke was a testament to her adoration.

"Who doesn't want a Porsche? Besides you Evie. You're taste in cars in subject at best anyways. You own a BEAST." Sam complained still aching for one of the shiny, sleek, and hot off the line cars. "I don't even want to talk to you for the rest of the ride." He scowled towards his fathers. "That was not a funny joke at all." But Ron Witwicky was still yucking it up.

"That's only because you couldn't see your face! It was just a little practical joke." Ron chuckled, driving across the street. "I didn't think you'd be so sensitive."

"Don't worry, I'm sure we're going someplace decent." Evie patted him on the shoulder comfortingly. Unfortunately they pulled into the rather tacky lot of the place her uncle was planning to purchase a car from and she winced just a tiny bit. 'Oh boy…' Anything from this place was probably a disaster waiting to happen. 'Guess I'm gonna eat those words now…"

Sure enough, as soon as he laid eyes on the establishment Sam all blew up in the typical fashion. "Decent? Decent?! This is not decent!" Sam groused climbing out of the car, staring askance at the creepy, sweaty clown standing across the lot. "Here? What is this? You said half a car not half a piece of crap!" He accused, turning on his father.

Smiling sheepishly, Evie gave a delicate shrug. "I underestimated his cheapness." She said, falling back on her Uncle's legendary money grubbing ways, besides she couldn't _always_ be right. "Be happy he's fronting you the other 2 thousand to begin with. Wheels are wheels." She chided, voice soft.

"At least someone knows how to be grateful. Why don't you take more after your cousin once in a while?" Ron shook his head, slinging an arm over his nieces shoulder. "Have I mentioned how much I love you today?" he asked the petite blond, ignoring the eye rolling his son was giving them.

"Ooh…Only after you ate all the bacon I made for breakfast. But I don't mind hearing it again." Evie teased, nudging the rotund man in the ribs. 'God I love this family.' She thought, her heart swelling with the feeling just a bit. They were crazy, loud and a little bit out there, but as sweet and supportive as one could ever hope for. She didn't know what she'd have done if they hadn't of come along when they had.

Ever the dramatist Sam carried on, shaking his hand at the row of cars in front of him. "Do you remember the movie, 'Forty Year old Virgin? That's this car here," he said, pointing at a dark green car to his left. "And this is one," He shook the flat of his hand at a white one "Is Fifty Year Old Virgin, do you want me to live that life, hmm?" Sam shuddered just thinking about it. 'At this rate Mikaela is never going to notice me.'

Ron tsked, shaking his head. "When I was your age I would have been happy with four wheels and an engine, besides no sacrifice…-"

"No victory, No-I got it! The old Witwicky motto..." Sam couldn't count the times he had to hear the damn thing. 'This is not turning out like I had hoped.' He sighed to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Mumbling to herself Evie uttered a quiet, "I really don't think a car is going to have a huge impact on your virginity." A cool car wasn't going to make him any less sweaty or nervous around pretty girls. 'Honestly, that boy sweats like a pig when he gets all stressed.' And he always got stressed when it came to the opposite sex. 'Especially that Mikaela.' He'd had a crush on the dark haired girl since first grade and she still had no idea he even existed.

'Besides if having a nice car gets a girl to sleep with you, you really don't want to be sleeping with her in the first place.' Anybody that easy to get with was probably nasty anyways.

"You just wouldn't understand it's like a guy thing." Sam's hackles rose defensively. Trent had a cool car and Mikaela was head over heels for him. It wasn't a stretch to think if he had some hot wheels she'd notice him too.

"I'll take your word for it Sammy." Evie smiled blithely, glancing around at the cars dotting the lot. 'So glad I got out of high school early.' At least she was most of the time.

The car dealer came out wearing a hideous Hawaiian shirt. "Ladies, Gentlemen- Bobby Bolivia, like the country-without the runs!" He called clamoring down the steps to meet them.

Evie glanced around at Ron and Sam, eyes brows arched high as if to say 'Seriously?' Her thoughts seemed to be echoed on their own faces.

Still Ron accepted the overly eager hand shake Bobby Bolivia him "How can I help you?" The dealer asked, eyes a gleam.

"Well, my Son here is looking to buy his first car." Ron wasn't going to say it, but he was proud of his son, it seemed like just yesterday he was toddling about. 'Kids grow up so fast.' The thought brought with it equal parts relief and regret.

"And you came to see me?" Bolivia asked, flattered and all too eager to make a sale.

'You sound way too surprised.' Evie thought, watching the as Sam glanced off to the side miserably.

"I Had to." The teenage boy mumbled miserably and with no small amount of exasperation.

"That practically makes us family, call me Uncle Bobby B- baby!" The ridiculously dressed man said, holding out his hand to shake Sam's.

"Sam." Said the boy who was still not impressed but shook the proffered hand politely none the less.

"lemme talk to you." Bobby said, tucking the boy under his arm as he guided them around the lot. "Sam, your first enchilada of freedom is waiting somewhere under one of these hoods."

"Enchilada?" Evie mouthed to the heavens, nearly choking on her own spit to keep from laughing too hard. To her right she spotted an ostrich in cage and she nearly died a little on the inside. 'This place is as wacky as they come. It was borderline hill-Billy amusement park. 'Aunt Judith is going to get a riot out of this.' She literally had to walk away when the dealer started talking about his mammy before she busted a gut laughing.

She caught sight of a bright yellow Camaro sitting next to an extremely faded yellow bug. "This isn't bad." She mused to herself. "Actually, you look pretty fantastic, even with the faded paint." It practically looked like a dream compared to most of the things on the lot. It was a bit rusted in some places, but it had charm to it.

The tips of her fingers ghosted along the hood, tracing patterns in the dust and grime. "Racing stripes are pretty sexy." She hummed to herself.

The Camaro's hood trembled under her touch and worriedly she drew her fingers away, wondering if there was something wrong with the frame work. "That didn't seem good." Evie sighed, glancing at the car pensively. Still, she really liked it, and she had a feeling Sam would too. Running her hand along the side, she pulled open the door and slid inside, taking a good look around. The leather seats were a bit beat up and had a Retro feel to them, but what really got her interest was the Bee shaped Air freshener. The grumpy slated eyed it sported bearing down at her.

"Bee-otch? Cute." She giggled, giving it a little tap. There was no smell coming off of it, but a good essential oil soak would fix that up quick. It'd be a total waste to just throw it out and buy a new one anyways. "I want one for my car…" And the little disco ball was pretty swanky in her humble opinion. The lion bobble head on the other hand could go, it looked sad and dirty.

Running her hands over the steering wheel, she took notice of the grim caked in the middle, and wiped it away. 'A little greasy…' She thought, cocking her head to the side when she caught sight of the strange marking emblazoned on the metal plate in middle. "Must be custom…" It looked a bit like a face, but not quite a human one. "Hey Sammy!" Evie called, hanging out the window. "Come look at this one!"

The moment he set eyes on the car she could tell he was interested. 'Read you like a book...' Evie thought fondly, climbing over into the passenger seat preemptively.

"This one isn't bad." Sam admitted running his hands over the roof. "It's got racing stripes." Girls were a sucker for those.

"Yea it's got Racing stri-" Bobby paused, confusion leaking into his voice. "What the heck is this? I don't know nothing about this car….Manny, what is this? Check this car out!" The Hispanic attendant seemed just as confused and began shouting gibberish as Sam slid into the driver's seat.

"Feels nice." Sam whispered, nodding his approval.

"I knew you would like it." Evie stated, smiling softly as she patted him on the cheek. "It just feels right, huh?"

Sam nodded, glancing at the symbol in the middle of the steering wheel. "Yea…" something was just calling to him, shouting to him really.

"How much?" Ron asked, glancing at the faded yellow paint.

"Well, considering the Semi-Classic nature of the vehicle, with the slick wheels and custom pain job…" Bobby began to explain, hanging around the passenger side window way to close to Evie's personal space in the girl's humble opinion.

"Yea but the paint, It's faded!" Sam snorted, hardly believing what he was hearing. 'No way is he going to jack up the price.'

"But it's custom." Bobby Bolivia repeated as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Its custom faded?" Sam's voice rose in pitch and Evie flinched at the noise.

Sam always got his dander up so easily- probably a trait for his mother's side of the family, but Evie liked to think she was a little…calmer than the two of them. '...Most of the time.'

"It's your first car, I wouldn't expect you to understand." Bolivia snapped back, turning to Ron. "Five grand."

"Nah! Not paying over four." Ron shook his head. "Sorry." He added apologetically, looking at the cars behind him. Either the price would come down, or Sam would have to pick a different car. Still, he wasn't going to look the boy in the face just yet so he could avoid the guilt gnawing at him.

"Kids, get out of the car." Bolivia demanded, slapping the edge of the car window next to Evie's head.

Evie scowled, number one the guy made the mistake of referring to her as 'Kid.' And he'd all but ordered her to get out of the car. 'I'm an adult damn-it!' So what if she had a baby face and barely reached 5'1. Just to be spiteful she crossed her arms and remained sitting even as Sam got out of the car bitterly griping about how Bolivia had told him cars chose their owners. Even the jape about Ron's legendary cheapness could not assuage her. 'What an asshole…'

"Now this one over here for four G's is a beaut." Bobby Bolivia spoke, tinkering around with the yellow bug right next to her. No one was really listening though.

Idly, she considered putting the last thousand down for the car herself. It'd be a good present and bribe material. "Sam, if you really want it, I'll put the last thousand down." She offered, ducking her head to see him outside the driver's window. Sam turned to look at her, his whole face aglow until his dad dashed his dreams to smithereens.

"No-no, Principles Evie, it's about _principles_. Four thousand was the agreement." Ron interjected, holding up a hand to stave off any arguments she might offer, he wanted his son to learn good values and responsibility. He wouldn't be able to do that if someone bailed him out of everything. "There's a fiesta over there if you want to look at it Sam. Its got racing stripes." It was a peace offering that did nothing to mollify his son.

"No, I don't want a Fiesta with racing stripes..." The disappointment on his face was killing her.

Sam climbed out of the car and shut the door. Watching with wide eyes as the whole car gave a jerk, and popped open the door his cousin had been leaning on.

The poor girl was nearly dumped out onto the pavement, but she had enough sense to grapple onto the dashboard even in her surprise The heavily faded car next to her was slammed in the door, nearly tipping Bobby Bolivia onto his ass. "Oh my god." She whispered, holding her hands up. "I had nothing to do with that, I swear." But she was a tiny bit glad it happened. "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy though." She whispered under her breath.

"Its fine, it's fine." Bobby laughed awkwardly and began screaming for Manny and his cousin to bring a sledge hammer to knock the dents out. "How about that one over there?" he suggested, pointing across the lot. "That one's my favorite drove all the way from Alabamy!"

A strange garbled sound came through the radio, startling Evie out of the mental tirade she was launching against the dealer. 'Engines not even on…' She didn't know much about cars, but she knew enough to know that radios didn't play if the power was off, and the dials were turning, tuning through the stations.

"What the hell…" The dark haired blonde whispered to herself, unable to do anything but stare and flinch when the noise grew in volume and sound became painful to the ears. "Ow…" She had no choice but to cover her ears in an attempt to ward the noise off just as the windows of every car in the lot blew out, sending shards of glass everywhere.

'Well, every car except this one.' Evie corrected her mouth slightly agape in wonder and horror. "You might be pretty, but I think you have some major glitches." She tsked, tapping a chastising finger against the dashboard.

It seemed like the destruction of every car in his lot was all the incentive Bobby Bolivia needed to lower the price, in fact the man was out right desperate to be rid of the people and car that had darkened his dealership. The papers were signed, the keys turned over and Sam was the new and extremely proud owner of a 1977 Camaro, completely and totally unaware that fate was weaving a web all around him.

He had wanted a new beginning to mark his ascent into adult hood and he was going to get the ride of his life, but for now, blissfully unaware as he was Samuel James Witwicky simply settled into the driver's seat, his hands roving over the steering wheel eagerly. "Oh yea." The keys in his hand were warm from how tightly he'd been gripping them and he took a deep breath before sliding the heavily scored metal into the ignition and turning them.

The engine roared to life like music to his hears, the power flooding through the cars frame as he revved the engine boisterously. Even with the smoke spewing out the exhaust the moment was beautiful. "Hey Evie! Want a lift home?" Sam offered with a grin, inching the car closer to her and beckoned her with one hand. "Mi car es su car."

"It's actually 'Carro.' You should know that living in California." Evie corrected, pointing a disappointed finger at him as she absently waved a farewell to her uncle with the other hand. "I'll ride with you, but you're gonna regret saying that." She teased, opening the passenger side door and shutting it rather gingerly, worried that it would have another door spasm. Blessedly nothing happened so she put the incident out of mind. "Stop by the coffee shop and buy me a Frappuccino, pretty please?"

Sam grunted, thumping the back if his head against the headrest. "I said car, not money! and secondly I have no money. I am flat broke…actually about that thousand dollars…still on the table?" Evie snorted, raising her brows at him as if to ask him if he was joking or not. "Nope? I thought not." He sighed, hoping that he got another stroke of luck and his e-bay page had been hit up.

"I'll treat." Evie offered sweetly, a devilish smile gracing her naturally sweet face. "But you'll owe Me." She sang, twirling some hair around her finger. She may have looked all candy coated and delicate but she could be a devil like most of the women from his mother's side of the family.

"When don't I?" Sam asked, wondering to himself. No matter how annoying she could be he wouldn't trade her for the world. She'd saved him from a lot of face poundings over the years—unlike Miles who often incurred more for him.

Evie shrugged, conceding his point humbly. "I do take excellent care of you, don't I?" she preened and patting him on the head fondly. Ignoring the fact that Sam was rolling his eyes at her overly fond gesture, she focused on turning her attention to tuning the radio. Evie fiddled with the dials searching for a decent station, but the radio frequency was a bit temperamental and it took a while to find one. After a few moments she came across a grainy one, fact paced song came through.

_" I've been looking for you forever baby we go_  
_Together baby we go, we go."_ The heavily Auto-tuned voice sang out, accompanied by a jaunty club beat.

"So hows it feel to have your first enchilada of freedom?" Evie busted out laughing, pillowing her face into her elbow. She was going to be bringing that up for _days_.

"Pretty tasty." Sam bit back a snicker. "I kinda feel bad about all his windows though. What the hell was that about?"

Shrugging her small shoulders, Evie stared at the radio for a few moments. "Dunno, lucky break I guess? " She briefly entertained the thought that the Camaro might be haunted, because despite her I.Q she was highly superstitious.

"You think there's something wrong with it?" Sam asked, his voice edging on over protective. The car was already his baby.

'Boys and their toys.' Evie sighed, flipping her hand through the air as if to whisk away his question. "No no, but the whole door thing was pretty weird...and the radio?"

Despite Sam's insistence that the Camaro was simply sensitive or something as equally ridiculous, Evie couldn't shake the feeling that lingered over her bones. The feeling wasn't new to her, it always came around when something big was about to happen, and big usually meant bad.

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In the next chapter, we get some Bumblebee perspective, whose excited for that? Its going to be an interesting challenge to write for sure. Also, finding songs for Bee is probably one of my favorite things about writing this.

**Song List: **

"Finally Found you"- Enrique Iglesias


	2. Dream Machine

You people...are giving me a heart attack from lack of reviews. I spent the majority of the time writing this wondering if I sucked that badly. But, writing is a labor of love, not popularity.

To the people who faved and alerted...I love you. This is here because of _you_ and while it's not critique or input like I had hoped for it's something, and I'm greedy enough to take anything you give me...So here ya go!

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**Genesis**  
By Huldra Nix

"_The cars we drive say a lot about us._"  
-Alexandra Paul

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Even after being on the planet earth for the last four years, it and its inhabitants continued to amaze him. They were so familiar and different all at the same time, especially humans.

When he had first dropped onto the big, predominately blue globe the situation had been exceedingly grim. Sector 7 and the near overwhelming amount of Decepticons roaming around had made things difficult, but having search through 6.36 billion humans for one boy? 'On my own!' Bumblebee added to himself, quite proud of the accomplishment.

It was worse than the human expression; "_Searching for a needle in a haystack_." Hay didn't try to kill a bot…as far as he knew. His experiences with hay were extremely limited. 'Looks harmless enough, but you can never be too sure.'

He'd landed in Virginia, unpleasantly surprised when the human organization Sector 7 showed up hot on his wheels. He'd not anticipated that there would be an actual informed and organized agency dedicated to dealing with visitors of the extra-terrestrial kind.

'And their welcome party was awful' He thought miserably, remembering how he'd had to quickly flee to Missouri to escape capture. There after hacking into a coffee shop's Wi-Fi he discovered google, and it had been wonderful. It cleared up a lot of his confusion about the world around him, and he was thankful for that, even if it was a bit different to what they had on Cybertron. 'Pretty impressive for such a young planet…' He conceded easily.

Using that website Bumblebee searched for any information regarding otherworldly visitors. He'd found out about Archibald Witwicky and his artic expedition, who apparently after finding an Ice-man went crazy and began drawling cyberglyphs all over the place despite being blind.

The poor man ended up being admitted to a psychiatric ward in Louisiana where he eventually died, any glory he might have had faded into the obscurity of his perceived madness.

That meant Bumblebee had to track down whatever descendants the explorer left behind, and there were quite a few. While in Denver, Colorado he'd had the misfortune of running into Hardtop and managed to bury the Decepticon in some rubble high up in the Rocky Mountains 'Where he'll stay with any luck.' It would be just his sort of fortune for the exact opposite to happen though.

His foray into Tucson had been just as catastrophic, Sector 7 and Barricade coming in hot on his trail. The police themed Decepticon had put up a bigger fight then Hardtop and Bumblebee had been half sure he was going to die, but he managed to come out a little—or a lot worse for wear in the end. The fight had been bad enough to lay him low for about a week.

But, he finally managed to catch a break and track Sam down. 'Which means the mission is one step closer to completion…' Bumblebee thought, straining his hearing in the direction of the house his charge lived in. The family had been quiet for some time and he had assumed they'd been in stasis. 'Or sleeping...' he was sure that's what the locals called it. 'Or maybe its dreaming?' They had so many words that had multiple meanings and numerous synonyms it was often hard to keep track of them all.

Either way it was very early in the morning. The sun was just peaking over the horizon and someone was already up. It wasn't long before the ridiculously tiny canine they called Mojo was let into the back yard shortly followed by the girl called Evie. He still felt a bit badly about startling her at the dealership. He hadn't meant to react when she touched him, but it'd been so long since anyone had without the intent to kill, capture or maim him did so that he'd been a bit surprised.

It was the first altruistic touch he'd felt since arriving on the planet and it was nice to feel touch of another sentient being who was not trying to hurt him—or hijack him. 'Some espionage agent you are. ' he could just hear Ironhide chiding him if he ever found out. Thankfully she'd played off his movement and radio issues as simple glitches and put herself at ease with that justification. 'Just as well too.' Bumblebee told himself, knowing there was no need for him to start rousing anyone's suspicions.

The person of interest was still standing on the porch pulling on a pair of particularly bright green sneakers and mumbling to herself as she wobbled on one foot in an attempt to keep her balance _and_ tie her shoe before repeating the process with the other foot. "It's too early for this crap." Evie grunted to herself, finishing off the last loop before making her way down the steps.

Scrubbing the back of her hand over her tired eyes a heavy huff of air escaped her. In a few quick steps she was across the grass she wasn't _supposed_ to be walking on and onto the gravel, the stones crunching beneath the soles of her shoes. She paused, glancing at the beat up car gracing their drive way and squatted down about a foot away from the Camaro's bumper.

Humming to herself quietly she perused the faded and scratched surface of the chrome lining the front of the car, unaware that just as she was inspecting the car, it was making his own appraisal of her.

'Your eyes are really bright!' Maybe not optic bright, but they reminded him of a reflection nebula; blue and green with flecks of silvery white interlacing through the polished surface. It was hard not being able to speak, or make contact whatsoever, lonely really and so he often found himself talking in his head.

'Messages to and from the others are sparse.' Bumblebee mourned the lack of contact almost weekly. The more they spoke the higher the risk of being found escalated, therefore unless there was pertinent information to be shared he stayed silent.

Her hair was a bit messy, the golden filaments twisting every which way as they tumbled down her shoulders and ended below her chest. As if sensing his thoughts, she pulled the pieces up into a more tamed pony-tail—the naming of which he found to be quite silly.

In all Bumblebee really liked her face. It looked friendly, inviting—and it had interesting symmetry. 'But I could be biased…' After all she'd had nice things to say about him at the car dealership.

A yawn stretched across her face, prompting Evie to cover her mouth and mumble to herself; "I really _hate_ that dream. I can never get back to sleep afterwards." Her lips downturned and she placed the palm of her hands against the hood of the car and hoisted herself to her feet. "I can't believe Sam didn't clean you up as soon as he got home." She tutted taking a look at her dirty, blackened hands. "You look like you've been through a dust storm."

'All that and more,' Bee silently assured her, suppressing a shudder thinking of his many fiascos. Being pretty and clean had really never been feasible. 'No time for aesthetics during war.' Unless you were someone snooty like a certain Autobot he knew.

Shrugging to herself, Evie brushed the dirt from her hands and looked towards the lightening sky. "Maybe I'll clean you up when I get back." She was honestly kind of a clean freak—at least when it came to dirt; the territory came with being a doctor.

'Papers, books and clothes are another story. That stuff is just _everywhere_.' There was some sort of order to it all, but it would never make any sense to anyone but her. "Now," Evie turned her gaze towards her feet, and pointed at them intimidatingly. "The sooner you run, the sooner you're done." And just like that she fled the driveway, feet pounding from gravel to pavement in no time at all.

It was strange, but she found that Sam's car gave off the feeling of being lonely. 'Maybe it's just the paint.' she thought, focusing on her breathing the best that she could. 'People assign human qualities to inanimate objects or images all the time.' It was just the way their brains were wired.

Not surprisingly her thoughts inevitably turned to the suddenly re-emergent nightmare from her childhood. From five to the age of ten it was a near continuous staple in her nightlife, occurring at least once every few months before it petered out for a while.

'Doesn't matter how many times I've had it or how long has passed since the last time, it's always the same and always scary as hell.' Evie shuddered, recalling the endlessly vast expanse of space, dark and yawning as it spread out before her eyes; the stars mere pinpricks of light falling around her. 'Or am I the one falling?' She could never quite figure that out, the streaks of light dazing her as they scorched by.

'It would be beautiful if it weren't for the crushing feeling of dissolution pressing in on you.' She always felt as though something was ending a terrible death, falling all to pieces around her.

The sensation of tumbling through space, feeling lost and infinitely alone hung over her like a knife as a swirling galaxy bright with blazing white-blue orbs that gleamed like stars unveiled itself. Each sphere converged to the center, spiraling into one huge mass, and then for the first and last time in the entire dream Evie feels as though she is not completely and utterly alone.

The sight of those merging masses feels more comforting then foreboding—as though she'd come home after a long night at work and someone she knows and loves is there to greet her.

Her skin pricked uncomfortably, goose bumps rising along the exposed skin of her legs and arms— the cropped black leggings and blue tank top doing nothing to protect her.

'And then that sound!' Like a tuning fork; metallic, long, piercingly pitched, and clear—so clear as it perforated her ears. The very noise vibrated through her every particle, every molecule—or so it felt.

Then, as if gravity was a mere switch to be turned on and off she fell like a comet, plummeting through galaxies before the earth vast and slowly spinning unfurled itself beneath her. 'They say in dreams, you don't feel pain…' But when falling through the atmosphere like an arching arrow, white hot and burning, there is a distinct impression of agony that lingers in the back of her mind—as though something has been ripped away from her.

Before she's dashed all over the ground in a terrible mess she has the fortune of waking up with a violent jerk and a breathless gasp, as though she'd truly been falling through the heavens and not just sleeping in her messy bed.

'At least that's an improvement.' Evie thought to herself dryly, remembering all the times she woke up screaming on the floor from the violence of her abrupt waking. Even now, she can't manage to fall back asleep afterwards, the feeling of burning imprinted in her mind.

'It's been so long since the last time I had it though…'She'd almost been convinced it was a relic of the past until this morning. The last occurrence had been five years ago, the week before she left for college.

'It's probably got something to do with me feeling isolated or something. Sam growing up and getting a new car…" The logical thing to do was to assign some type of real world meaning behind it and so she searched for some explanation for the eerie feeling it left her with.

'Next year he'll be off to college and so busy. Now he's got his own car and he won't be around as much.' That thought left her feeling lonely and displaced, hence the feeling of isolation and emptiness in the dream. 'And the spiral galaxy is me coming to terms with it and moving on.' Evie decided the part with the fiery descent was better left ignored and switched the subject of thought towards work.

Or rather the new job she would be starting in the next two months. 'Far away from the emergency room…' She had liked it in some ways; fast paced, long hours to keep her occupied and it often brought with it an adrenaline rush. On the other hand it was exhausting and left her feeling miserable day in and out.

There was no stability, no predictability—anything could happen, and after everything was said and done, the patient treated and gone you were always left wondering about the open ended stories that walked in and out each day. Worse still, she lived states away from the only family that mattered to her and the best friend she hardly ever saw.

It felt like being a castaway on an island. So she'd finished her residency and booked it home as soon as possible. 'And you've been slumming it here with your aunt and uncle for the past few weeks like a bum.' Sam had been right about that part.

"Oh!" Evie stopped in her tracks, realizing she'd gone quite a bit further then intended. It was more like two and a half miles now instead of her usual four. 'That's going to make this about five in total.' And tomorrow was the customary gym-social day. 'Maybe Felicia will let me skip and we can do cake instead? or milkshakes and hamburgers.' She hoped to herself. 'But on the other hand we'll miss out on ogling at the hot personal trainer.' Whose sexuality was questionable at best, but that was no reflection on his abs…

'His incredibly amazing abs!' Evie gave a lofty, admiring sigh as she walked a bit more sedately back to the Witwicky house. 'Which reminds me…got to call the realtor.' She'd put it off for a whole month, but she really should at least start_ looking _for a new place.

Calling the realtor may have been her plan, but as soon as she got back she put it off in favor of cleaning Sam's car like the procrastinator she was at heart.

Moving into the garage she located a big blue bucket, a car sponge, a few scrap rags and some soap, placing her finds into the bucket before trekking across the yard for the garden hose, dragging the heavy, coiled plastic behind her like a great green boa constrictor. "Alright, so you're a little scuffed up—and the paint's seen better days." Evie brushed her hand over the hood comfortingly. "It's really not so bad—nothing to be done about it really, but the dirt's another story."

The cool water rushing over his sensors was a minor issue, even if the temperature was lower than he'd have liked. He was pretty content with all the attention he was getting at the moment, silently reveling in it. It was something to fill the waiting and it made him feel like she was actually noticing him when she spoke.

Soap came next, followed by the sponge working in tight circles before their radiuses spiraled outwards. The suds frothed and Evie let them settle for a few minutes to loosen up the dirt and grease.

Her ears caught the sound of the screen door opening turned her head, revealing Sam as he stumbled his way down the steps. "You're up early." She greeted watching a great big yawn spread across his still sleepy face.

By nature, habit and choice, Sam usually slept in late on the weekends, but today was a special day and he couldn't seem to keep himself in bed.

"It's fine; you can help me clean the inside out." Evie grinned eagerly, tagging him in the arm with her fist, "And then I'll make breakfast." She promised, watching in mild confusion as he bolted back inside the house at record speed, returning moments later with the car keys clasped in his hands.

Shrugging his broadening shoulders at her questioning glance, Sam opened the driver side door and turned the Camaro on. "Might as well work to some music..." He explained as the radio played a sensuous beat.

Sam scoffed and turned the dial after a moment. "Sounds like bad porno music." He said after finding a station that was appropriately enough playing Car Wash.

"Sam, Ew. I did not need to hear _you_ talk about porn. Not even its musical aspects." Ever and preferably never again, on that Evie was absolutely sure. There were just some things she did not need to have in her brain.

Completely lost to the contextual turn the conversation had taken, Bumblebee made a note to check the internet for information later. This was probably the longest he'd been in the company of humans the entire time he'd been on the planet—pesky governmental agent's aside and hopeful carjackers aside.

"I'll get the backseats, you get the front." Sam wrung out the wet washcloth he'd been soaking in the bucket and tossed it to her, snickering when it slapped wetly against her face.

"Ha-ha." Evie grumbled, peeling the cool rag off her face to wipe down the seats and dashboards. The more appropriate use of an old paint stained rag. "At least I don't have a zit." She stuck her tongue out mockingly.

Self-consciously Sam reached up to cover the blemish. "Shh!" he rubbed it, hopeful it would come to a head so that he could pop it—preferably before he left. 'It's driving me nuts.'

'You guys make things so hard.' Bumblebee stilled the radio sputtering slightly as he mentally flinched. Circuits lined even the interior of his being, and in some ways they were more sensitive to account for the lack of sight in that particular area. He already knew that Sam was heavy in manner and hand; he liked to grip the steering wheel like it was going to fly away from him at any moment.

Evie on the other hand was the opposite, her fingers light and airy as if afraid to be noticed, not wanting to linger or stay for very long. It sort of tickled.

The two humans bantered with one another throughout the time they spent cleaning him, much to his amusement. Bumblebee had known that socially they were very much like his own kind, but he hadn't seen or heard it for himself until now—unless movies, teledrama's and talk shows counted.

Their rapport reminded Bumblebee of a similar relationship. 'Kind of like a younger, less aggressive, less prickly version of Arcee…and Sam's a bit like me.' More immature though…but perhaps if he'd never known war or loss; Bumblebee might have been just the same. Those were thoughts he never entertained for long, it never helped to think about what if's and why not's. 'Best to focus on the now…' He told himself.

Still, his thoughts lingered on Arcee and others hoping that somewhere in the infinite universe they're doing all right. 'They're probably making scrap out of anything that gets in the way.' Arcee especially, she may have been tiny, but she was resilient and tough as anything.

"Alright." Evie announced, tossing her rag into the bucket. "I'll leave the rest to you." She said to Sam. "We're having French toast." Because after all the running and cleaning she was lazy and wanted to eat something sugary and sweet.

"Okay," It wasn't like Sam was going to argue about food. He'd eat just about anything put in front of him. He lingered a while longer even after he'd finished cleaning his portion and put the cleaning supplies. "I was a little iffy about getting a car from that place at first…" He admitted, crouching down to buff a particularly deep dent. "But you're kinda growing on me." Or maybe he'd just decided to be thankful for what he had.

"Alright, so today is a _big _deal, okay bro?" Sam asked fidgeting with a few scratches scattered throughout the painted surface. "First impressions and all that...It's all about impressing the girl, but that's on me. All you have to do is not break down or anything." God he hoped that did not happen. "Just once, I want her to see me." He mumbled, bumping his head on the hood of the car.

"I read you loud and clear!" The radio fizzled, startling Sam out of his half prayer, half pep talk.

Chuckling to himself, Sam rocked back to his feet and brushed his pants free of dirt. "Well at least _somebody_ listens." He told himself as he walked back into the house.

Later when the day had grown a bit longer the older Humans came out, puttering around the space of green, the older portly man laying down flat gray bricks into the earth while the woman busied herself with cutting pale colored flowers from the leafy trees they grew on.

From his spot in the driveway Bumblebee listened for Sam, hearing the teenager clamor awkwardly around his room, grumbling about EBay and money—or rather the lack of it. 'I managed to stop Hardtop before he told anyone about Sam…but that webpage is a walking disaster.' He was going to have to contact the others soon. There was no telling when the Decepticons would move in. 'Tonight.' He told himself firmly, watching as Sam bounded out of the door and made his way closer.

There was a brief conversation about the grass and not walking on it which as far as he could tell neither Evie nor Sam ever took seriously since they walked across it at every turn. It was shortly followed by complaints about the dog wearing jewelry, the significance of which was also lost on Bumblebee.

"Be back by eleven…and wear the seatbelt! And drive safe!" Judith listed nervously waving off what used to be her baby boy as he prepared to drive away. 'How can time go by so quickly?' she sighed to herself.

Evie lingered in the doorway for a moment, a pensive expression cast over her face before it broke into a wide grin. "Good luck, you'll need it with Miles around!" That kid had more than a few squirrels running around in his head. 'Way too obsessed with trees…'

Pausing in thought for a moment, she added some succinct advice to her goodbyes. "And stay away from any illegal substances; don't drink anything you didn't get yourself!" Her pale hand waved at him, still grasping her newest book. "Otherwise I'll have to whoop your butt!" she really meant it too, having seen to many cases of it leading to emergency room visits.

Sam rolled his eyes and started the car. "Yea, yea. I could take you any day!" It wouldn't be hard either since she probably barely weighed 120 pounds. Then he reeved the engine, and peeled out of the driveway grimacing at the cloud of smoke that followed.

In the distance, Bumblebee heard Sam's mother comment on his condition and sulked inwardly. 'The mod I scanned had inferior parts!' he at least had to pretend to be the age he looked. It wasn't his fault he was supposed to remain low key…or that Sam's dad was cheap.

Miles was a little strange. For whatever reason he refused to use the actual doors much to Bumblebee's annoyance.

"This is not Dukes of Hazard!" Sam scowled, shaking his head in exasperation. "Don't scratch it up any more than it already is dumbass."

Miles chewed hiss bubblegum loudly, messing with the radio dials. "Kind of junky already though, isn't it?" he asked, arching a brow when all he got for the first few moments was hissing and spritzing over the speakers.

"It's not the car." Sam defended his vehicle; knocking the other hand aside he turned the dial himself. "Lo and behold, there be music." He smirked, nodding his head proudly even as Miles threw his hands into the air as if to give up his complaints.

"You've only had the car for a day and you're already acting like an over protective hotshot." Miles harrumphed and threw his feet up on the dashboard.

Sam shot him a look of distaste but allowed the action, even if Miles was a little…odd at times, he was really one of the only friends his age that Sam had. He wasn't going to get too bent out of shape about him disrespecting his car a little.

"You sure it's okay for us to be here?" Miles asked when they finally pulled up to a curb near the lakeside park. 'Pretty lush.' He thought, eyeing a tree speculatively.

"It's a lake, of course it's okay for us to be here. What does Trent and his blowhard friends have a monopoly over Mother Nature now too?" He hated that jarhead. He'd been a thorn in Sam's side since forever regarding everything except brains and grades. He was proud to say he could run mental circles around the jock any day. 'I don't get what she sees in him…' The car door slammed shut a little harder than he'd meant to.

"Do I look okay?" Sam asked, checking his hair and breath fervently.

Miles shrugged and nodded. "You look fine and don't sweat it man."

"Okay cool…Don't do anything weird bro, just keep it cool." Sam nearly begged, almost immediately he could feel Trent's snide, arrogant gaze stabbing into him and of course Mikaela was right there with him, looking absolutely amazing even as her eyes glossed over him as if he were no more than a piece of background scenery.

Sam had to resist the urge to slap his face as Miles bee-lined it to a tree right in front of Trent's truck. 'Idiot…I know I said NOT to do anything weird.' he thought watching the blonde monkey his way up the tree.

"Nice car." Trent snickered, teeth bared in a not so nice smile. "What're you guys doing here?"

Thinking a mile a minute, knowing Mikaela's eyes could be on him, Sam fumbled for words. "We're…we're uh…here to climb this tree." He explained, glancing back towards the tree to hide his mortified expression. 'Nice one.' He thought, regretting it the moment the words slipped from his mouth.

Trent glanced at Miles as though he were something stuck to the bottom of his shoe, or splattered on the windshield of his precious truck. "I can see that…" He tilted his head to the side, eyes gleaming as though they'd found something particularly interesting. "Didn't you try out for football last season?"

'Oh! you just had to bring that up didn't you?' And before he knew it he was spouting off some smart ass answer followed by another, which led to him basically calling Trent and his posse a bunch of brain damaged, mentally handicapped idiots. 'Well…' It wasn't exactly a lie.

Trent's face had turned an alarming shade of red as he stepped closer, only to be blocked by the raven haired girl who was always the center of Sam's attention.

"Trent, no… Just let it go!" For the life of her Mikaela would never understand why the hotter a guy was, the more aggressive he had to be. It'd be a lie to say she hadn't gotten a kick out of Smarty-pants's comeback though. 'It was pretty sly.' She thought smiling to herself as she led Trent away. She couldn't place it, but he seemed a bit familiar. 'Maybe a new kid?' That seemed about right.

Her tanned arms looped and tugged Trent away, pulling him towards his shiny dark blue truck—the one she'd wanted to drive since forever. "How about I drive?" she smiled coyly, green eyes blazing with hope.

"Oh no." Trent laughed, throwing his head back in the way she was quickly starting to despise. "I don't want you to scratch the rims. Why doesn't my little bunny just hop in the back? One of my guys is going to ride shot gun."

The smile left her face immediately. Trent had done two things wrong; he called her "Bunny" and all but mocked her intelligence. "I can't even begin to tell you how so not your little bunny I am right now." She shook her head, glancing towards the sky in disgust as her feet already began walking her away from the newest ex-boyfriend. 'Bunny!?' she didn't know whether to laugh, or pummel him.

'I could drive circles around him with my eyes closed!' Hell, Mikaela could pick his little toy apart and put it back together with the snap of her fingers, Trent probably couldn't even change his own damn oil even _if_ he had a manual. It was pathetic. 'I'm pathetic for even being with him in the first place.' She thought bitterly.

Bumblebee knew opportunity when he saw it, and this was it. 'You wanted a chance? Here it is kid.' He thought shifting through the broadcasting stations.

Sam was hopelessly watching the girl walk away when The Cars began to stream through the radio, softly singing Drive, and he knew. He just knew that this was his chance. "Get out of the car." He demanded, throwing his own body into the driver's seat.

Miles, utterly confused and aghast announced his disagreement. "Dude, bro's before hos!" he did not want to walk home. "Besides she's an evil jock concubine!" Sam would be better off with a lower maintenance girl by far.

"This is my chance, and she lives ten miles away. I'm not making her walk!" Here and now might be the only chance he ever got and Sam would be damned if he let it get away.

"We can put her in the back!" Miles protested waving his hands angrily. 'This is so not cool.'

"I'm not putting her in the back, so get out!" It was blasphemy to even think about it. Sam tried not to feel badly at the disappointed look his friend was giving him when he drove after the girl he'd been crushing on since first grade.

The beat up old Camaro pulled up beside her, the engine thundering loudly. "Mikaela, need a ride?" Sam offered hopefully, bowing his head to get a good look at her. 'Those hips...' He thought feeling flustered. "Wouldn't want you to get stranded or anything…Can I ride you home—I mean give you a ride home in my car!" he cursed himself for fluming things up so badly. 'God she probably thinks you're a creep.'

Mikaela, unamused at first figured she should take the offer or suffer from massively hurting feet the next day. 'How bad could it be?' she asked herself, sliding into the passenger seat.

"So…uh…" Sam supplied a topic of conversation as eloquently as he ever did. The silence was killing him.

"I cannot believe I'm here right now." The tanned teenager girl complained, brushing some hair from her face as she stared out the window.

Sam looked around, ignoring the slight stab her words sent through him. "You can duck down, it won't hurt my feelings." That was lie, but he would be happy for whatever time he could spend with her.

"Oh, no! I didn't mean like here with you, I just meant in this situation. The same situation I always find myself in." Mikaela interjected quickly trying to patch up her mistake.

The awkward boy behind the wheel nodded listening intently; savoring the fact that for once in his life she was giving him the time of day. 'This is a dream come true!' he nearly squealed like a teenage girl.

"I guess I just have a weakness for hot guys with tight abs and big, strong arms." She sighed, wondering why she just couldn't stop talking. Maybe it was because for once it felt as if someone was actually listening.

In an attempt to draw her eyes to his arm, even if it wasn't as beefy as Trent's, Sam pointed out the light at the top of the cabin. "Got some new additions I just put up in here, like that light." Sam strained the muscles in his arm. "And that mirror ball, so you know the light hits it and stuff."

Mikaela arched a brow, not sure what was up with his odd behavior. "Uh-huh…are you new to the school this year?" she smiled encouragingly, doing her best to be friendly.

Sam shook his head. "No…we've been in the same school since first grade."

"Do we have any classes together?" A crease formed between her brows.

Almost all of them, but he refrained from mentioning it. "Uh, well…there's math, history, language, arts…and science."

"Sam! Sam Willkicky." Mikaela cried, pointed a manicured finger at him proudly.

"Wit-Witwicky." He corrected, chuckling nervously. 'Why do people always get that wrong?'

"Oh. I'm Sorry…I just didn't recognize you." Mikaela flinched slightly. 'Stupid…of course he looks familiar, because he IS.' She remembered his family report from school just a few days ago in a moment of clarity.

Deciding that the spot up ahead was the perfect place to give them a bit more time together, Bumblebee sputtered and stalled, slowing to a stop as his radio began playing Sexual Healing.

"Oh no, no-no!" Sam panicked, fumbling with the keys as he tried to explain himself to the girl who was currently looking at him with annoyance. "This is not what you think, I wouldn't pull something like this on you, because this is a romantic thing, and we're not you know…romantic. Well, we could be! But this is just an old radio you know!" he rambled sporadically, sweat beading at his brow. 'This is exactly what I asked NOT to happen!'

'Maybe it just wasn't the right song?' The Autobot mused to himself, flipping through a few more frequencies. That only seemed to make Sam angrier because he began kicking the dashboard, which wasn't really comfortable. 'Fine, fine…you're on your own! So much for being helpful..'

"Uh-huh, right, of course not." Mikaela rolled her eyes and pulled her long black hair up. "Pop the hood." She demanded, leaving the car. 'Not like you're the first guy to try something like this.' Not By far.

She was really surprised to see how clean the engine compartment was. "Nice, A high rise double pump carburetor? Not bad at all Sam." It was impressive.

"Double pump?" Sam wondered cluelessly, he'd never even taken a look at the engine but it was admittedly awesome looking.

"It squirts the fuel in so you can go faster." Mikaela explained in layman's terms, patting a few of the cylinders inside. "Distributor caps a bit loose though." She mumbled, tightening it up.

"Oh." Sam's eyes lingered on the flat, smooth flesh of her stomach. "That's nice…I like to go faster." He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "So how do you know so much about cars?"

"My dad was a grease monkey…He taught me everything I know." Mikaela figured it was fine to tell him that much and leave it at that.

"I never pegged you for mechanical." Not even by a little, not with her body, not with the way she carried herself. 'But I like it.' It was hot.

Mikaela smiled something vaguely bitter in her expression. "I don't exactly broadcast it. Guys don't really go for girls who know more about cars then they do, especially not Trent. "

"I don't mind…I actually prefer for women to work on my engine." Sam's left eye flinched as the words flying out of his mouth caught up with his brain at last. 'Nice one.'

Mikaela nodded distantly, squinting into the setting sun. "Uh-huh, you want to start her up for me?"

'He.' Bumblebee corrected tersely, even if they couldn't hear him. 'It's HE.'

Unfortunately Sam had to keep talking, even as he made his way back to the ignition. "If Trent is such a jerk, why do you hang around him?" he really hadn't meant to strike a nerve in her but he did nonetheless.

Mikaela, sensing she was being judged decided that perhaps she should just leave well enough alone. She knew it was dumb, but more than anything she just wanted to fit in at school and the best way to have an easy time was to get in with the popular kids. You were either with them or against them, and she did not want to be against them. "You know what…I think I'll just walk thanks, and good luck with your car Sam." She sighed and started trekking down the hillside.

"Shit!" Sam banged his head on the steering wheel. "Come on, come on, please work!" he begged turning the ignition, looking towards the sky thankfully when the engine revved and the speakers came on. "Thank god!" He reached across the car and slammed the passenger door shut, before whirling the car around after her.

Smiling to herself, Mikaela couldn't help but admire his tenacity. Even if he was a bit of a dork, there was something endearing about him.

"Look I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that, it's not really my business." Sam wandered after her, inching the car along, his fingers gripping the steering wheel nervously. "Don't punish yourself by walking for something I did…I'll keep my mouth shut the rest of the ride, promise." His gray-green eyes were so earnest, so apologetic and unlike most of the guys she knew that Mikaela didn't have the heart to say no.

'And it's a long way home.' She added, sighing to herself as she settled back into the passenger seat.

Feeling pretty proud of himself, Bumblebee adopted a no interference rule for the rest of the ride. Allowing the radio to play itself as it liked, he left it to Sam not to run the girl off a second time.

Sam thankfully stuck to the safe topics, although he did break his promise not to talk at all. The silence had been nearly stifling, so no one really minded. The two human's idly chatted about school, teachers they didn't like, particularly juicy pieces of teenage gossip they both happened to be privy too.

By the time the sun had finally fallen, Sam had managed to make Mikaela laugh at least a handful of time much to the inflation of his pride. 'Not bad.' He patted himself on the back mentally as he rolled to a stop in front of the path leading up to the house she indicated as her own.

Feeling as though perhaps she had misjudged him, Mikaela smiled tentatively. "Thanks for the ride...I had fun." Surprisingly enough she meant it.

Sam could feel the goofy grin spreading across his face, and nodded in agreement. "Oh yea…You know, any time. Happy to help." He scratched the back of his neck feeling a bit out of his league.

Biting her bottom lip Mikaela paused upon exiting the Camaro, a look of confliction gracing the space between her brows. "You probably think I'm shallow for hanging out with Trent, don't you?" and maybe she was, but she'd spent most of her life worrying that someone would find out about her dirty little secret. Every day was just another day trying to fit in and not be noticed in the wrong way.

Startled by the question Sam's thoughts rattled around in his head, searching for the right words to say and before he knew it they were spewing out of his mouth. "No! I mean not, I just think…there's more to you than meets the eye." He resisted the urge to slam his head against the palm of his hand for coming off as some love struck guy in a chick flick. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid...'

Instead of seeming repulsed by his corny attachment, Mikaela smiled, the tiny twitch at the corner of her lips awing him. "I'll see you at school Sam. Again, thanks for the ride." She walked away, pausing to watch him from the top of the stoop leading up to the front door of the off white house she lived in to wave farewell. 'Not so bad at all.' She thought, disappearing into her home.

Sam lingered in street for a moment, astounded at his luck. It felt like something monumental had just changed within his life. It was everything he wanted. 'All thanks to this junky, glitch, fantastic car!' he nearly laughed, pressing his lips to the center of the steering wheel in pure gratitude. "I love my car!"

Maybe Bobby B hadn't been completely full of shit after all when he had yammered on about the mystical bond between a boy and his car.

When he finally arrived home Sam all but floated past his parents sitting on the couch, barely acknowledging them when they greeted him. "Teenagers…" Ron chuckled to himself patting his wife on the leg as she pouted, sipping her glass of red wine and stewing over how quickly children seemed to grow.

* * *

So, yea. Writing from a Transformers perspective; HARD. So hard, especially when they have to be mostly stationary. Hope I did it justice.

I'm actually super excited about writing this though. I think it's a real challenge. As for the sources cited so far, all that stuff about Bee's first few years on earth came from the movie comic but I shorthanded it...The relationship Bumblebee cites between himself and Arcee is reminiscent of the one they have in Transformers: Prime.

Okay so...just in case anyone is reading this, what do you think of live action Transformer's designs, versus other incarnations? Personally speaking, when comparing Transformers: Prime to the live action one's, the Prime versions make more sense to me. The live action ones have to many exposed bits for things to hook onto; it makes more sense for that stuff to be more covered to me. Also, Bee's voice in Prime...Fantastic. Just saying.

Actually, in general...I think Prime was the better version when it came to most things. Although, Optimus Prime's flames were pretty wicked despite the arguments of some people...At some point I absolutely intend to include the Decepticon doctor Knockout. Why? Because he's to fabulous not to!

Next chapter, is going to be like...Whoa.

Can you guess the Snooty Autobot Bee was talking about? Come on, venture a guess! ( I don't bite badly...)


	3. Inquiring Minds

A/n: is it just me or do these chapters just get longer ever post? I'm nearly dead from this. Speaking of which, do you prefer longer or shorter chapter lengths?

* * *

**Genesis**  
by Huldra Nix

_"We are driven by the usual insatiable curiosity of the scientist,_  
_and our work is a delightful game."  
_-Murray Gell-Mann

* * *

In the dark of night the quiet little house slumbered on until Sam woke with the feeling that something was just not quite right with the world. The quietly chirping crickets that had lulled him to sleep from the open window were interrupted by the loud rumbling of an engine, an engine that he had grown particularly fond of.

Sitting up quickly enough to make his head spin Sam threw himself out of bed and darted down the hall, peering his head out of the closest window that had a view to the driveway. "Oh! no-no- no! That's my car!" He screamed hands fisting into what little of his hair they could grasp. 'This cannot be happening!' he panicked, wondering what cosmic joke the universe was playing on him as he took the steps leading to the first level of the house two at a time, showing more athletic grace In those several moments than he had his entire life.

Before he knew it, he had pulled his shoes and a jacket on and was out the door. Glancing up to Evie's open window and thinking quickly, he scooped up a handful of rocks and hurled them into the opening hoping at least one would hit. Something glass shattered and he flinched to himself—hoping it wasn't anything important. 'Better not be the fish bowl…' he thought nervously.

"What?!" Evie slurred- jerking her head off the pillow it'd been buried in, her half open eyes blinked furiously to fight off the sleep still clinging to her mind. She struggled to sit up just enough to glance out at the window, squinting out into the dim light that lit the backyard.

"Evie, call the cops, my cars been stolen!" Sam screamed, ripping his bike away from the side of the house. "That's MY car! And nobody is getting away with It!" his feet peddled after the Camaro furiously.

Her thought process hazy and mind still in a stupor despite having reached for her Cell-phone, Evie ended up with her face back in the pillow as Sam rode away, having written off the episode as some bizarre waking dream. 'Because what kind of idiot rides after a carjacker on a bike?' were her last conscious thoughts.

Adrenaline and testosterone surged through Sam as he pushed himself to go faster, all the while arguing with the emergency operator as he went. "Don't argue with me! My dad's the head of the neighborhood watch! Bring everyone, call all units!" he screamed into the phone, wobbling slightly on the bike as anger lanced through him. 'What sort of world is it when a guy's_ first_ car gets stolen and the operator has to act like they're the ones put out?' The slap of the cellphone lid slamming shut as he hung up dribbled a tiny bit of satisfaction into him.

It had not taken Bumblebee long to notice Sam was following him—especially considering how loudly the human was bellowing. Torn between exasperation and a bit of amusement he humored the pursuit for a few moments.

He'd honestly expected Sam to sleep deeply enough not to hear him leave and was paying for it now. 'It can't be hard to lose him…'especially when taking into consideration what the boy was riding. A flimsy piece of metal with two wheels and no engine—a contraption powered purely by the human body.

Bumblebee spun his wheels faster as he took the corner sharply, tires squealing in the process before he turned off onto a dirt road and shot through the flimsy metal barricade barring him from his check point.

Behind him a freight train would soon be pulling in to block Sam from following if he hadn't already been left behind in the dust. 'This is the closest place to get a good enough signal...' The next point was about an hour away and therefore out of the question. He couldn't go too far from Sam without risking his safety and compromising everything.

'Quickly...' Bumblebee reminded himself, feeling his limbs change and readjust. It felt almost odd to be walking on two legs after so long but he made his way to the highest point in the junkyard, working out the foreign feeling out of his joints as he went.

Sam, who as it turned out was not easily deterred and had the forces of fate on his side found himself crouched behind a huge hunk of scrap metal watching in a mixture of awe and terror as his fingers fumbled with the thumb pad of his phone for a well versed speed dial number. 'That's my car.' He knew the color of that paint, and knew it had headed into the junkyard, the tire tracks running in the direction he was staring at. 'But it-it's not my _car_.' It looked almost humanoid, even standing as tall as it was with the light pouring out of its chest.

The dial tone rang twice before Evie picked up, voice groggy and tone weak as it snapped across the speakers. "Whad'ya want?"

In his whole life Sam was sure he'd never been so happy to hear her voice as he was in that moment.

"Evie, listen, my car is alive…like, walking alive! And it's not really a car, and I should have told you I loved you more often than I did, but I totally do!" The words poured out his mouth, mind too boggled to process what he was actually saying in its state of panic. "Tell Mom and Dad that I love them and Mojo too! And that if they find Busty Beauties under my bed they aren't mine, they belong to Miles!" but then he thought for a moment and became a bit guilty. "Actually that's a Lie, Uncle Charles gave them to me!" he tried to stealthily slink away from his hiding spot.

'I could die tonight, better tell the truth while I can…' it figured the same night Mikaela Banes finally noticed him would be the same night shit went and hit the fan. The not so subtle sound of growling caught his attention, and he bit back the tiny girlish scream that threatened to escape him as two large and frankly hungry guard dogs strained against their chains to snap at him.

Staring at her phone in confusion and perhaps a bit of alarm, Evie finally sat up and flicked the bedside lamp to life. "Are you on drugs? Where the hell are you!?" her voice rose in pitch as the sound of barking dogs over took everything. 'Why can't you just take someone's advice for once you little…' she couldn't even think of a word appropriate enough to finish that line of thought.

"I-oh! Oh shit, oh shit!" Sam screamed over the line just before he hung up, booking it across the junkyard as quick as his legs could carry him. The chains withholding the two huge, angry dogs had broken and the sight of them coming after him was enough to send Sam sprinting across the junkyard, through a pile of woodchips which he slid and fumbled through as he screamed sweet words to the dogs cutting a path after him.

"Good doggies!" The sight of their teeth was a pertinent reminder as to why he preferred smaller dogs; they had smaller teeth. Wisely seeking higher ground he clambered onto two large industrial sized barrels, trying to avoid their biting jowls as he went.

The sound of an engine and the blaze of yellow-white lights lit up the concave structure Sam had taken refuge in and all of a sudden he wasn't sure what was worse, the dogs who had run yelping into the night or the devil car. 'Why? Just why?' he thought, recoiling as the Camaro slung a tightening circle around the barrels. "You can have the keys! I don't even want the car anymore— just don't kill me!" He screamed in frustration, hurling the keys from his pocket to the ground.

Bumblebee could hear the sound of siren's fast approaching and made a quick escape. 'Bad enough that Sam managed to catch me, there's no need for law enforcement to question my lack of driver too.' He would stay close by just in case though. Things were bound to pick up after such a wide sweeping message had been sent and it was better to err on the side of caution given what was to come next.

Sam, who was currently being arrested, cursed the moment he laid eyes on a certain yellow car. 'And, while I'm at it, damn Evie too!' because it was her fault in the first place.

"I'm not lying!" He snapped in frustration as the cold metal cuffs clamped over his wrists, he'd told them about the Camaro, and how it had...transformed and they were acting as if he was tweaking out or something.. "I know it sounds crazy but it's true!" The police officers only rolled their eyes as if they'd heard the story he was telling a thousand times.

"You got to lay off the juice kid. Haven't you seen the commercial with the egg and the pan? Pretty sure your eggs been left in the pan too long." The officer with the totally outdated moustache laughed to his partner and shoved the teenager into the back seat.

'I should 'a kept my mouth shut…' Thumping his head against the window pane as recompense for his own stupidity, Sam closed his eyes, settling in for one very long night.

* * *

To say that his parents were pissed was an understatement; he'd all but been grounded for an unspecified period of time after his father had to pick him up from the police station. The loosely termed "_investigation_" they'd put him through was a complete disaster considering everyone thought he was on drugs one moment, and then just plain crazy when the urine test came back negative. 'The only crazy person is that cop. How the hell did he get on the force anyways?' Sam scowled, flipping through the TV channels.

Being grounded wasn't such a big deal though, despite the unfairness. 'It's not like I can go anywhere considering my car is…' Not a car? Gone? Both options were applicable. He didn't even want to leave the house, fearful that he'd have another run in with…whatever it was.

"Sam?" Evie questioned sheepishly, peering at him from the doorway. He was still mad at her for not calling the police when he'd asked her too, on the other hand he'd broken her fishbowl with his little rock toss and the Beta-fish she'd been raising was no more. 'And you don't see _me_ giving him the silent treatment!' she complained silently, wondering at the justice of it all. "I'm going out; you want me to bring anything back?"

He ignored her for a few moments, but after a while of her staring at him with big, sad, guilty eyes—which she absolutely had every right to be making at him, his resolve faltered. He hated that about her sometimes. "Yea, bring me back lunch or something…And the newest issue of Marvel's Civil War is out."

"Got it, junk food and comic books. That always makes me feel better too." She smiled, glancing out the window. "You know I'm sorry about your car and everything." She felt badly that it'd been stolen but had tried to write off his crazy talk about it transforming as Sam simply over reacting or stressing like he usually did.

Still, something rankled with her about the whole ordeal. 'Maybe it's because He really believes it...' And Uncle Ron had said no matter how much the officers in the station had laughed and questioned Sam, he'd remained steady in his story.

'And he came up clean during the drug test…' But the idea of a car turning into something right out of a science fiction comic, or children's movie just didn't seem conceivable to her. The sound of a beeping horn drew Evie back to reality. "Oh! That's Felicia, got to go and see you in a few hours!" She called, bolting down the steps as she pulled the soft, worn, black and blue flannel shirt over the plain white tank top she was wearing.

"Yea, see'ya…" Sam said, sighing to the empty air as the front door slammed shut. 'Alone at last...' He wasn't feeling too comfortable about that, but at least he had Mojo.

Sure enough in the drive way there was a little burgundy car waiting, the speakers bellowing throughout the neighborhood. "Alright, alright! Are you trying to make the neighborhood deaf with that noise?" Evie chided, pulling the door to the car open.

"Lumberjack style today I see." The woman sitting in the driver's seat grinned, plucking at Evie's sleeve teasingly when she came within reach. "Or is it 90's chic grunge? Maybe more country with that huge belt buckle...The pants are nice though. Pretty tight, trying to draw attention to those legs?" she whistled wolfishly.

Felicia was everything Evie wasn't, tan skinned, dark haired and tall with a heavily curved body. Even as far as attitude went, she was loud, vivacious and not afraid to stand out and be noticed. 'It's funny how two different people can be so close.' Evie mused, perching a pair of sunglasses on top of her head.

"Hmph…Actually, I think it's referred to as; I don't care." The blonde corrected, shoving her cellphone and a few other items into her pocket of her black pants after pulling the seatbelt across her form. Dressing nice for work was all well and good, but there was no need to make herself uncomfortable on a day she wasn't busy trying to impress anyone. "I will however, take the compliment about my legs and run with it though." Evie decided, grinning to herself as she threw a wink towards the flirty woman next to her.

"Well, it's something." Felicia shrugged with a wistful sigh and pulled out of the driveway. "You never take compliments well anyways." her gray eyes darted to Evie as she drove; picking apart the tiny little facets that other people would easily miss if they didn't look closely enough. "You okay? You don't seem yourself." She commented, a frown twisting across her face.

"Who do I seem like then?" Evie arched a brow, pulling her gaze away from the window.

"Just as witty and deflective as ever I see…" Felicia snorted, shaking her head in disappointment. "You just seem distant is all— a bit like you're waiting for another shoe to drop on you or something?"

Humming noncommittally to herself, Evie looked back out the window and shrugged. "I just haven't been sleeping well. Don't read too far into it." She warned, despite the fact that Felicia had hit the nail on the head. A heavy feeling of anticipation – or dread, She could not discern which, seemed to hang heavily in the air and whatever was going to happen she honestly wished just _would_.

"You know what helps me sleep at night?" Felicia's grin was purely salacious— so much so that Evie had to groan in frustration.

"I don't want to know!" Evie covered her ears quickly to prevent traumatization.

"Pervert. I was just going to say dancing…" Felicia wiggled her eyebrows. "But the other thing helps too—not that you would know." She smiled wider and whipped her head to stare at the other girl in outright glee. "Speaking of which, there's this guy I want you to meet he's—"her mouth was covered by a small, white hand.

"No! Nope, cease and desist! Do not proceed; do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars!" Evie shook her head wildly, annoyance flashing across her eyes. "The last time you set me up with a guy...well let's just say that it ended badly." She shuddered in disgust to accentuate her point. "I'd prefer not to repeat the experience, ever again if at all possible." Luck with men was not something she had been gifted with.

The price that came with being a so called genius was that she tended to over think everything and doing so was not exactly correlative to easy going romances. 'But…When it's meant to be, it will be.' Evie reminded herself patiently, knowing that if she did not her thoughts were likely to wander into dark places that were best left unvisited.

Felicia sighed to herself. 'You misjudge one guy and all your street cred goes down the drain…' it wasn't her fault that freak had slipped passed her radar. 'Some people are just good liars…' and it hurt her pride to have to admit that she'd been fooled, and it rankled her even more that Evie had ended up suffering the brunt of that mistake. "So…how's the search for a new place? You can always come live with me, think of the fun we'll have!"

Evie slumped further down in her seat. "Uh…it's going well," In other words she hadn't even started until yesterday evening. 'Well, at least I finally called a realtor…that's something, right?' as for living with Felicia, that was out of the question. "And much as I appreciate the offer, no way. Living with your best friend is a good way to _not _be friends anymore." She very clearly remembered the three weeks they went camping together a few years ago and that they'd nearly killed one another.

"Fine, be reasonable and logical—I'm _sure _there are men out there who find that sexy too." Felicia huffed, the expelled air blowing a dark strand of dangling hair out of her face. The answering grin on Evie's face put her at ease and drained the worry she'd been feeling away. It _finally_ seemed like the heavy air surrounding the blonde was lifting and Felicia was more than thankful to see it go as she parked the car against the curb.

A lazy meandering lunch followed, light hearted and exactly what Evie had needed to shake off the odd case of nerves she'd come down with over the last few days. She put aside her worries and tribulations, focusing on how happy she was to be home back with the people she cared about most.

By the time the afternoon had ended, she was perfectly content walking down the side walk with the taste of a mint milkshake on her tongue and a bounce in her step until some psychopath on a pink woman's bike nearly sideswiped her. In an effort to avoid collision, she'd twisted to the side and stumbled, toppling over even as Felicia reached out to steady her. The Styrofoam cup had spiraled out of her hand and splattered all over the side walk.

"Not the milkshake!" Evie bemoaned, pressing her hands to her head at the horror of it all. "You…you…Damn you!" She screamed ineloquently after the furiously peddling pedestrian, unable to come up with a suitable epithet. The rider glanced back for half a second and a sudden moment of clarity washed over her as Felicia pulled her back to her feet. She _knew_ that psychopath.

"What a prick." The dark skinned woman mused, brushing some dirt off her friend's shoulders.

"That was Sam." Evie replied bluntly casting a brief, annoyed look at her companion before it changed to watch in slack-jawed as a familiar Camaro followed after him, hardly caring for the rules of the road as it rolled by.

Not knowing what to think, she simply decided to act upon recognizing the peculiar look on Sam's face as being one of outright terror. "I- I gotta go..." Her hand dived into Felicia's pocket, searching for the keys despite the other woman's surprised squealing as she was accosted in the middle of the street. "I'll meet you at the comic store in an hour at the most—promise!" she cried, sprinting down the street with nary a look back.

Standing on the street corner minus a friend and her ride Felicia could only stare after her quickly retreating Pontiac. "Yea, well you better be there in the next 30 minutes!" she shouted, glaring at the people who stared as they passed by. Sometimes—just every now and then, she really wondered about Evie's sensibilities.

Catching up with Sam proved to be a little more difficult than Evie had assumed when a cop car nearly rear ended her, only to pull to the left side in just the nick of time. 'Road rage much? But…Something's not right…' her eyes pinpointed the discrepancy when it passed by her. 'To punish and enslave?' it was sure as hell not standard regulation. It even ran a red light, turning with a squeal down the same road Sam and his Camaro had gone.

The alarms going off inside her head only got louder when she realized they were headed into the bad part of town, where the less savory types of people tended to bunker down. It was definitely not a place a boy from an upper-middle class family would go to for a leisurely ride on a bike—a woman's bike for that matter. That was just asking to get jacked up.

'He can't be in his right mind.' Evie thought, taping her hands against the steering wheel idly. She didn't want to make it to obvious that she'd been following so she hung back for a few moments after the cop car pulled through the abandoned concrete structure before making her own move.

The nice thing about Felicia's car was that it was quiet and had a smooth ride, but as quiet as she had intended to be Evie was not prepared for what she saw when she finally pulled out from behind a row of abandoned, rusted vehicles. Pinned to the top of a car by some sort of mechanical, hulking…thing was Sam—his face rightfully whitish with wide, cow like eyes.

A high pitched shriek echoed from somewhere, sounding faraway and entirely too close all at once. 'No-wait, I think that's me.' Evie realized nervously, skin growing ashen when ember bright, laser like eyes pinpointed her. 'Well shit…' She felt like she had just swallowed a frog, helpless but to stare. It was like looking at something from a science fiction novel.

Sensing that this was his moment to escape Sam sprinted over the car he'd been pinned to, throwing himself to the ground before rolling to his knees behind the car Evie had borrowed. "Evie get out of the car!" He hissed, slamming his fists on the back bumper to drive her out of inaction.

The huge hulking freak that'd been screaming questions about EBay and glasses was headed right for them at an alarmingly fast rate considering how huge he was. 'You'd think he'd be slower…or maybe it's that his leg span is so much huger than ours it just seems faster—now is really not the time for this!' The next thing he knew the car he'd taken cover behind was flipped out of the way like a kid playing with a toy car, only to slam into one of the huge concrete support pillars with a clamor of protesting metal and brittle glass.

Up was down and down was up as the car turned, sending Evie's stomach right along with it. The feeling of being weightless ended with the sharp, sudden tug of the seatbelt as her head whipped forward to whack against the steering wheel. 'Be happy there were no air bags, because that would be twice as bad.' She thought feeling something warm and wet streak down the side of her face as the daze quickly wore off when the rush of adrenaline flooded her system.

There was glass everywhere, in her hair and in her clothes but it was the seatbelt digging into her waist and torso that hurt her the most, holding her snugly against the seat—the only force preventing her from falling to the roof of the car.

"Evie!" Sam screamed again, suddenly at the window of the car. "Get out of there, we have to go!" It was funny how time seemed to slow down when it seemed like death was at one's heels.

At any other point in time, she probably would have thrown back some sarcastic remark but the situation really didn't allow for being witty. With shaking fingers she undid the seatbelt, grunting when she slipped forward, the wind knocked out of her diaphragm by the steering column. Discomfort the least of her concerns, Evie shimmied out of the blown out windshield and was hauled to her feet and dragged away, the sound of heavy clunking footsteps following their every move.

The feel of Sam's hand tightly grasping hers and the dull pain in her head and torso were substantial reminders that what was happening around her was not some delusion or dream but horrifying reality. 'Felicia is going to kill me.' Evie thought, the pulse of her heart a heavy thrum in her throat. 'How am I supposed to explain that an overgrown metallic…thingy flipped her car?' and that was_ if_ she survived— an occurrence that she was immensely doubtful of at the moment.

Sam kept his eyes focused in front of him, because he knew that looking back was not a good idea. 'That's how every dumbass in every horror movie gets tripped up.' And he is determined not to be _that_ chump no matter how badly he wanted to look and see nothing, the tremors of the ground beneath him tell him that he would be disappointed if he dares it, so he doesn't.

The light of the setting sun strikes him in the eyes when they finally clear the shade of the old abandoned highway ramps and for the first time in his life he's actually unhappy to see Mikaela anywhere near him. "Go the other way!" he hears himself screaming, voice high and pithy as he cried for her to turn back before it was too late. "There's a monster!"

Mikaela couldn't take the hint— not from Sam's sweaty, nerve wracked expression, but when she saw the blood streaking down the side of his blonde companion's face and the way she kept glancing behind them constantly—she slowed the scooter down apprehensively but did not stop. "What are you talking about?" the next thing she knew they were all sprawled on the ground in a tangle of limbs. "Sam, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

Wordlessly, Evie placed a hand on the other female's head and turned it in the direction they'd been running from. "That!" Her voice shook nervously when the metal of the gates screeched, torn as easily as paper under the grasp of a giant.

The light of day only made whatever it was all the more terrifying as the sun gleamed off it. "What is that?!" Mikaela screamed even as Sam tried to pull her to her feet, calling for her to run.

"Mikaela, you have to get up!" Sam was surprised at the eerie calm that had settled over him. 'but someone has to pull things together, Evie's dazed, Mikaela's freaking out…' and he felt one second away from wetting himself if that _thing_ got any closer.

The smell of burning rubber and a roaring engine startled Sam enough to shove the two girls lower to the ground as something yellow howled by them, the wind rolling off of it as it passed by the proof of just how closely it had streaked by them. Sam was almost prepared to take back every horrible thing he'd said about the Camaro as it slammed itself into his inquisitor.

After his last run in with Barricade, Bumblebee had decided to move cautiously trying to take the Decepticon by surprise and minimize any unnecessary human involvement. He'd failed to do the latter, something he immensely regretted now that he saw that the delay in action had dragged both Evie and Mikaela into the fray. Evie looked especially bad, a streak of red staining her hair and smeared down the left side of her face.

'So much for doing things on the low…' He thought, vindictively slamming the side of his alt-mode into Barricade's shins, knocking the mech off balance. With his wheels still spinning the autobot slung himself around and popped open the passenger door, hopeful that the humans would take a hint before Barricade was up and moving again.

There was no hesitation in Sam when he looked into the empty car and gave Evie a gentle prod towards the open door. "Get in the car." He'd trust this car over the other one any day—and they really had no other choice at this point.

"I don't even know what's going on anymore." Evie whispered to herself as she crawled across the front seats, pressing her body against the driver's door as tightly as possible. There was no way she was sitting in the back where she would basically be trapped if things somehow managed to get any worse. 'Sam's car can apparently drive itself, there is a giant robot chasing us…next thing you know there's going to be some sort of alien invasion or something… 'A shudder snaked its way down her spine.

Mikaela took more convincing from Sam but when faced with the other option she too followed him into the car as the last occupant, as soon as she was inside the passenger door shut behind her and the wheels spun, kicking up dust as it left the empty lot.

Squeaking quietly, Evie drew her knees up to her chest, watching in wonderment as the Camaro operated itself. "This gives new meaning to the phrase automatic!" The pun was that the car was technically a stick shift, but of course the humor was lost on the other two humans who were too busy staring out the back window in horror.

"We're going to die!" Mikaela cried, digging her hands into whatever she could grasp. One hand was clawing the open window's edge and the other digging into Sam's leg as she braced herself for impact.

"No, don't worry this car is a kickass driver!" Sam's ate his own words when he saw they were headed for a stained glass panel without slowing down. "Oh shit! Not cool!" he would deny the high pitched scream he uttered for the rest of his life, blaming it on Evie and Mikaela because they most certainly drowned him out volume wise.

"Okay, we're gonna die!" Sam screamed, digging his feet into the dashboard to brace himself as they crashed through a wooden scaffold, whirling around like an old carnival ride.

The Camaro was better than any roller-coaster Evie had ever ridden—something she would normally enjoy but the constant jerks were making her a bit woozy as it rattled her brain and turned her stomach.

Even with his older modeled parts, Barricade couldn't out maneuver Bumblebee and ended up losing traction long enough for the yellow scout to get away and pull into a secluded area for a few moments. The whole point of the little chase he'd been leading Barricade on was to get at far away from high population area's as possible.

Barricade, in the fashion of decepticon protocol would kill anything that got in his way—and enjoy it. 'Evie's lucky he didn't do much worse…' Bumblebee was thankful for that because the guilt surely would have hallowed him out.

Preemptively locking the doors to keep the human's from scurrying away and getting hurt, he waited and watched Barricade look around for him cluelessly. If he _could_ laugh he would have been sorely tempted to.

Seeing as how they were not going anywhere until the car decided to move, Sam finally had a chance to worry about the blood pouring down the side of Evie's face. "Is that going to be okay?" he questioned, reaching out the pull away her red drenched bangs.

Flinching, the blond wheeled her head back. "Don't touch!" she really hadn't felt the pain until he had to draw attention to it.

"It's a lot of blood…" Mikaela pointed out, shifting uncomfortably in her spot. Sam's elbow was digging into her ribcage.

"Head wounds tend to do that," Evie explained, pulling down the rearview mirror to get a good look at what they were freaking out over. Sure enough, after prying back the hair clinging to her forehead there was at least an inch of busted skin on the upper left side of her temple. "It could use something to keep it closed, but it's already starting to dry up..." She was explaining it more for their benefit, if only to stop those two from fretting more than they already were.

'Besides, Now that we aren't moving the dizziness is gone.' And she didn't feel lethargic or anything else that could hint at a concussion, but she knew before the night was through there would be a gigantic bruise.

Bumblebee, having a limited view through the mirrors scattered throughout his current form got a good look at the injury, which only made him feel worse than he did before. 'I should have acted quicker…' and he'd tear himself up over it later, but for now he had to focus on getting rid of Barricade before he became a bigger issue.

The ignition stuttered, key twitching as the engine turned, and not for the first time Bumblebee cursed the old parts his alt-mode had emulated. 'What a hassle…' He thought, satisfaction flooding through him when purr of his engine came to life and he shot straight past Barricade and into the old abandoned chemical factory on the furthest outskirts of town.

Using the momentum of his turn to sling Sam and Mikaela out through his passenger door was easy enough but Evie had to be dealt with more carefully. She garnered a much less abrupt ejection considering she was already injured and it would have taken more force than he wanted to use to toss her out with the other two. Instead he opened the driver side door and counted the seconds as Barricade approached.

Evie took the hint and scurried out, circling around the car to pull the two teenagers off the ground even as her eyes never left the changing form of Sam's Camaro. It was utterly fascinating and if she was being perfectly honest, a bit frightening to watch. "Oh my god..." She was half aware that Sam was hissing uncomfortably from the pressure of her fingers digging into him.

The entire time she'd been in the Camaro, the thought of it being anything other than a car that could drive it's self had not crossed her mind given the hectic situation. "You weren't crazy after all." She regarded Sam sheepishly.

As much as the teenage boy would have liked to be a smug ass and gloat, Sam could only nod as he stared up at the giant that used to be his Camaro.

The gears and joints that made up his body locked and clicked into place just in time for Bumblebee to take up a sturdy fighting stance, careful to keep himself between the humans and the decepticon launching itself at them.

It was hard with them being so small and delicate, he had to focus carefully, maneuvering around them and keeping up with Barricades brutal strikes.

Barricade was of course infinitely more interested in wrecking Bumblebee to pieces than he was with dealing with a bunch of fleshlings. That he would leave to Frenzy.

The gangly passenger the decepticon had been harboring sent the humans scattering as Barricade tossed Bumblebee a distance away, following the tumbling autobot in the next beat, eager for battle. "This is for the ark!" he'd howled to the yellow autobot's complete confusion.

'You mean the ark that _your_ lot shot down?' Bumblebee thought, wondering if the fall he'd caused Barricade to have earlier had scrambled his main processor. In a way he was sort of thankful Frenzy had run the human's off, and hoped they could handle things on their own for just a while longer. Things were about to get nasty for Barricade.

For their part, the humans were doing…decently on their own. Frenzy may have been small, but it was fast—and manically single minded. All shiny, gleaming, and silver, it was covered in sharp, jutting joints and came equipped with unbearably quick limbs—not to mention dead set on getting its hands on Sam as it gibbered words no one could really understand.

"What the hell is this thing!?" Sam screamed, turning away sharply as he attempted to escape its sharp, graphing claws. It finally grabbed hold of his jeans and pulled, bringing the teenager down to his knees.

"You are asking the wrong person!" Evie grunted, straining her muscles as she pulled Sam by the arms in a game of tug of war with his body and the creature that was currently succeeding in pantsing him. Finally fed up with pulling she let go and kicked the thin framed, twiggy thing back long enough for Sam to shed his pants and go running.

The quick movement had caused her to stumble and the delay was long enough for her to be knocked flat on her back when the insect like monster jammed her leg as it continued its one minded pursuit of Sam. 'Damn it!' Evie hissed, curling in on herself from the pain that lanced through her. It wasn't so much her head, but where she'd slammed into the steering wheel earlier that hurt enough to lay her low.

'If I live to see tomorrow, I am going to be one big bruise.' Evie though miserably, finally managing to peel herself off the ground she'd become so friendly with. She moved quickly, sliding down the hillside at the same pace as the other girl in their little trio.

Mikaela, who had disappeared in the chaos of their escape attempt, had come back ready to gain a new level of badass when she lopped off the annoying little bastard's head with an automatic handsaw she'd wisely appropriated.

"Nice." Evie clapped her hands in eager approval.

Smiling slightly, Mikaela propped the effective weapon against her shoulder. "Thanks…uhm…?" She paused, trying to recall where she'd met the blonde before. "Oh, you own the old jeep at the shop!" It was a nice one, but she still couldn't recall the name.

"You can just call me Evie..." There was never any need for anyone to know her first name, lest they get tempted to call her by it. "And yea, that's my baby." She sighed in longing, wondering how much longer it would be until she could be reunited with the long beloved vehicle. "You're Mikaela Banes, right?" Evie knew the answer since the other girl was a long held topic of interest for Sam, but it was still polite to ask.

"She's my cousin." Sam explained—just to make sure that Mikaela knew and didn't think any differently. He was watching the severed head twitch and scuttle across the ground before his foot lashed out angrily, punting the head away – the distance of half a football yard if his measurements were right. 'If I had kicked that well on try outs, I totally could have made the team.' He smirked triumphantly. "Not so tough without a head are we?!" he screamed, almost giddy in his enthusiasm.

"Alright tiger, there's no need to act so macho— especially when you're in your boxers." Evie whispered out the side of her mouth as she sidled up him.

Flustered, Sam went red from the neck up because of all days to wear the childish ones with the robots printed on them—he'd picked today. "Right…" He coughed, walking away in search of his pants.

Behind him Evie and Mikaela spared brief, but amused glances at one another as they fell into step behind him, eyes glancing up over the raised bank Sam had rolled down earlier as they heard the approach of loud, reverberating steps.

"What is it?" Mikaela whispered, hanging back in the distance nervously.

"I think it's a robot…a super advanced one. Probably Japanese… it's Definitely Japanese." Sam muttered, trying to come up with something on the fly. He wasn't sure what to think, but some sort of explanation was infinitely more comforting then none.

Evie just pressed the palm of her hand against her eyes in humiliation. 'This is just one of those times you have to let things go.' She told herself, biting back the snarky comment on the tip of her tongue. It was almost impossible to believe that…whatever Sam's car was came from Japan and that _no one_ had any knowledge of it whatsoever.

That was too farfetched to believe, if human's had the capabilities to create things like that she had no doubt they'd be using them for warfare rather than sending human being's out into the field to die. It just didn't make sense. 'So then…what are you really?' she wonderer raising her eyes to study the humanlike anatomy, The bright blue of his—she was sure that it seemed masculine by the way that it moved and carried itself— reminded her of something distantly familiar.

Bumblebee stared back down at them, his own hands propped against his pelvis. He'd been a bit worried upon realizing that Barricade had a carry on minion but it turned out he never had any need to. All three humans were accounted for and no-one really looked any worse for wear. 'Well…' Maybe Sam was the exception since he was lacking the armor referred to as pants. 'Frenzy might have been small, but he is—was fast both in body and mind' he thought, commending the three for making short work of the nuisance.

His own opponent had turned and ran as soon as the battle had left his favor. 'Which is fine, as much as I would like to be rid of barricade for good, there are more important things to deal with.'

"Sam what are you doing?" Mikaela hissed nervously shifting from foot to foot as Sam went to approach the towering giant.

"I don't think it wants to hurt us…if it did, it would have already." Sam murmured, He was starting to feel a little bad about freaking out earlier. If he had been thinking as clearly then as he was now he would have realized that if his…car had wanted him dead it had all sorts of opportunities to make it happen and there would have been nothing he could do to stop it.

"Really?! Do you like, speak robot?" Mikaela whispered, hoping that the big yellow thing wouldn't hear her and get all offended. "Because two of them just had a giant droid death match!' She really did not want to take any more chances or see anyone else get hurt. It was bad enough that the drying blood on Evie's face was squicking her out.

Evie tapped her fingers against her elbow thoughtfully. "So, what does it want?" because as far as she knew not a single one of them had anything of interest to a supposedly advanced robot from japan—if they were going to go with Sam's slapdash theory.

"Something from me…the other one was asking me about my EBay page earlier." Sam said, inching his way further up the hill. "Can you talk?!"

Both females found their own reason's to nitpick at Sam, not that he was paying either of them all that much attention anymore.

"You are the _strangest _boy I have ever met!" Mikaela ground out, frustrated with the turn of events her afternoon had taken. 'I was just worried about him, now look what I got myself into!'

"Is it really necessary to scream? I think he can hear you." Evie figured that if its—his hearing was proportionate to size, then it was probably better then all three of theirs combined. 'On the other hand, that could be a hindrance…'

Pondering the best way to explain himself, Bumblebee played a series of sound clips detailing numerous radio themed explanations, glad to see that Sam had figured it out he congratulated the boy, clapping and playing another brief clip. "_Thank you, you're beautiful, you-you're wonderful!_" it was times like these that he sorely missed his own voice.

"And last night, that beam of light? What was it?" Sam countered, recalling the strange blue beacon.

"_Message from Starfleet…throughout the unanimous vastness of space…Rain down like visitors from heaven, Hallelujah_!" Bumblebee's speakers called back.

Stunned, Mikaela's eyes fluttered—almost feeling as though she would collapse. "So you're like an alien or something?" it felt like the world was being unmade around her.

'Bingo!' Bumblebee thought, pointing a finger at her as an indication of her correct assumption.

"…That actually makes a lot more sense than the Japanese robot theory." Evie said, breaking the stunned silence that had been cast over them.

"_Any more questions you wanna ask_?" the radio called as the extraterrestrial kneeled, his body collapsing and transforming itself only to take the shape of a Camaro once more. The doors popping open as an indication of what he wanted them to do.

"Only like…a _million_." Evie breathed in response. She was after all a scientist at heart and right in front of her was an alien of all things. How could she not be curious? 'I am totally not geeking out right now!' she thought excitedly, leaving it to Sam to calm Mikaela down. She took the same seat she'd been in before, pausing at the doorway. "Is it really okay to sit here while you…uh drive? I don't get in the way or anything, do I?" she rambled quietly.

_"…Take a breath, just take a seat..."_ The Fray sang solemnly, but Bumblebee was pretty content at the moment. Finding songs or voice clips to explain himself was only a step up from the primitive text messaging he had to use to communicate with the other autobots—particularly when it came to matching with his tone of thought. He was surprised, and giddy at how well Evie had taken to the situation. 'She hardly seems scared at all.' and she was incredibly polite, which he liked after being viewed as a mere object for so long.

Taking that to mean it was acceptable, Evie slid into the driver's seat, tucking her legs out of the way courteously as she did so. Everything In the Camaro brought about a thousand questions to mind now that she knew what she _knew _about it. If anyone were to ask why she was so willing to get into the car in the first place, she would have blithely answered that it was better to go with the devil you knew rather than one you didn't.

Mikaela finally came around after Sam had convinced her that in fifty or so years she would regret not getting in the car and seeing where things would lead. It was admittedly a pretty compelling argument, but she was still nervous and edgy, refusing to sit in the back which meant she ended up half way on the stick shift and Sam's leg. "I can't believe you're sitting in the driver's seat…doesn't it seem a little weird?" she whispered to Evie after they made a stop to pick up Sam's pants and her purse.

"Not really, I just try to stay out of his way…" Evie blinked, pausing for a tiny span. "What's really weird is thinking about where we are right now… is it his stomach, or his chest?"

"ugh!" Mikaela cried, thumping the back of her head against the seat. "it's stomach!?" how much worse could the night get?

"Evie!" Sam hissed throwing his hands into the air angrily. "Why would you say that?! Nobody needed to think about something like that! What is wrong with you?" he looked around the enclosed space, suddenly turning quite green.

"Sorry." The blonde recoiled and decided that maybe it would be best to keep those sort of thoughts to herself for the time being. 'I thought it was a legitimately good question too…' it was saddening they didn't share her enthusiasm.

'Technically, it is the chest…' Bumblebee would have told them so, but the effort of switching through channels was not his priority at the moment. There was a lot of ground to cover and the others were incoming quickly. The effort of tracking their ascent was taking up most of his attention as he drove.

It was going to be a _very _eventful night.

* * *

Can I die now? No, seriously…16 pages long. The amount of action and driving in this chapter nearly made me want to cry. Have a heart, leave some love in the review box so I know that I didn't do a complete terrible job at writing it will you?

Personally, I think Evie's question about where the inside space of Bumblebee's alt-mode correlates to in his general mode is a perfectly legitimate one—if not a little awkward when you think about it…the whole issue of Bayformers claiming that there is no "Size Magic" going on with the Transformers just can't be plausible when you think about it. Either they are WAY heavier than a normal earth car that looks the same as they do—or cybertronian metal is unbelievably light and compact. And then there is the fact that they have WAY more parts in their humanoid forms then they do in their car modes. It's really just mind boggling…

Would anyone be terribly mad at me if I confessed to preferring Ratchet as having a classic red and white paint scheme rather than the ugly green they gave him in the Bay movies? I like the mod, but the yellow/green just drives me up the wall...


	4. Two Worlds

I caught the flu, so this took longer then expected-sorry.

* * *

**Genesis**  
by Huldra Nix

_Between two worlds life hovers like a star, twixt night and morn, upon the horizon's verge._

-Lord Byron

* * *

They were headed further away from Tranquility city with every moment, towards Los Angeles if the road signs were any indication.

"This car _is_ a pretty good driver." Mikaela admitted reluctantly. 'At least now that there's nothing chasing us.' She'd been one turn away from losing her lunch earlier.

"Mhmm." Sam agreed slightly distracted by the way she was sitting; half crouched between his seat and Evie's. "Why don't you sit here, with me?" he offered, ignoring the scandalized look Evie was giving him.

"Why?" Mikaela rolled her eyes up towards the ceiling. 'Typical.' Apparently even alien's couldn't deter teenage boys from trying to pull something.

Evie glanced away from the window she'd been staring out shaking her head in vague, passing amusement. 'Opportunist much?' she thought in regard to her cousin, wondering how he could even think about putting the moves on a girl after what he'd just been through.

"Because I have the only seatbelt and well, you know—Safety first and all that..." Sam replied, nodding his head along with his own words as if to agree with his line of thought. 'Not bad if I do say so myself…'

Evie seemed to think so too because she looked at bit surprised before she grudgingly smiled. 'Well, it's not the worst excuse I've heard to get close to a girl and for Sam it's pretty sly.' The blonde mused wryly, watching as Mikaela reluctantly slid into Sam's lap. On the other hand, she really wished Sam's would quit making moves while she was stuck watching him do it, it was awkward.

"The seat belt thing was pretty smooth." Mikaela begrudgingly admitted when Sam wrapped the seatbelt over her. Since being chased by the police car on steroids nothing had felt quite real, but when she felt Sam's warmth leeching into her skin the world suddenly felt a little more solid than it had before. "…you know what I don't get?" she paused, licking her lips nervously. "If it's supposed to be some sort of super advanced alien…why does it change back into this piece of crap Camaro?" she really wished she'd kept her mouth shut when they came to a screeching halt.

Evie gasped, bracing her hands against the steering wheel at the abrupt stop. "Mikaela…" she groaned slumping against the dash as she tried to calm her racing heart. "That was just rude." It was like telling another woman they were fat or something.

The cars behind them were piling up, drivers screaming angrily as Bumblebee threw the doors open. 'Enough is enough already!' he was tired of the sub-par form, the complaints- and frankly if he were going to meet with his superior officers he'd like to look halfway decent. Otherwise he'd never hear the end of it from Ironhide.

"See, look what you've done? You can't just say things like that! That car is sensitive and you just pissed him off!" Sam cried, watching the Camaro ride away with the high pitched peel of its tires. "There goes 4 thousand dollars!" his fingers roved over his head in aggravation.

"How was I supposed to know it had body image issues?" Mikaela responded, crossing her arms defensively. 'It's not like meeting giant robots is a daily occurrence for me! And I didn't ask about its bodily structure, isn't that like way ruder?'

Evie sighed to and pushed the two bickering teens in front of her. "I'd worry more about how we're going to get home, now walk…there's no point in standing around." She quietly mourned the Camaro's departure but soldiered on. 'There went the single most interesting discovery of my life…' She lamented, fingers groping around her pockets in search of a phone only to come up empty. 'Luck, you have _none_.' The annoyed girl thought as she threw her head back with a groan.

Bumblebee on had just the opposite thought, he hadn't had to go very far to find a new disguise. It was even in his preferred color, _and_ included the racing stripes Evie and Sam seemed so fond of. 'Maybe there is something to me being lucky after all.' The others often joked that he was some sort of magnet for good fortune and at the moment he couldn't really argue.

They were already walking up the side walk when he pulled up beside them his engine thrumming quietly as the radio's bass vibrated through the air. Pride lanced through him at the various looks of disbelief and absolute astonishment washed over them.

"How is this even possible?" Evie roved her hands over the hood of the car in astonishment. "It would mean being able to manipulate matter and mass…" He'd even changed his pigmentation like some sort of techno-chameleon; the color had gone from being a pale, faded hue of yellow to the vibrant color of marigolds and sunflowers. 'Well, I guess the part about manipulating mass does make sense…how else could he fold up like he does?'

She was undoubtedly torn between outrageous glee and befuddlement. The one thing Evie _could_ agree on was that he looked utterly phenomenal despite her fondness for vintage cars.

Rolling his eyes heavenwards Sam interrupted Evie's little tangent by pushing her towards the backseat. "Okay, that's enough; you can fawn all over him and science or whatever on the way to _wherever _we're going." He was perfectly content not to question how it was possible because the answer probably wouldn't make any sense to him anyways, but watching Evie work herself up into a frenzy made his head hurt. "Besides, we're holding up traffic…"

Even the inside of the car smelled new, but she immediately noticed the disco ball and air-freshener had remained intact. 'Well I guess some things remain the same after all.' She thought fondly.

His quick but _entirely_ necessary stop completed and all humans present and accounted for, Bumblebee continued on, pulling through the bared gates of a construction site knowing that the others would be passing overhead at any time. They had carefully planned the trajectory but as with all things there was a margin of error.

Pulling to a stop in front of the Griffith Observatory to watch the descent, Bumblebee let his little charges clamor out to get a better view. In stunned silence, Evie leaned up against his siding while Mikaela and Sam stood in front of him. To stare out in wonder at the four burning comets racing through the sky as they fanned out over the city.

Maybe Sam was a little terrified but when he felt Mikaela's questing fingers reach for his own, he suddenly felt a little less out of his depth and wondered if she felt the same.

"So, those…they're more of you right?" Evie asked, her fingers tapping against the hard top of the Camaro curiously.

"…More or less the same…There's only one me..." Bumblebee replied after a moment, if his readings were right the closest one to hit ground was Optimus at a distance that was close enough for the humans to reach without him driving them. Already he could hear them calling through the communications system—Ironhide was particularly vocal about having landed in water much to his amusement.

Even from where they were standing they could see the great plumes of dirt and smoke the resulting impact brought with it. Without preamble Evie pushed away from the car quickly and bolted towards the overgrown lot. "I don't know about you two but I kinda wanna see this for myself!" She called over her shoulder, bright eyed and taking everything in stride.

'There must be some sort of crazy gene we all inherited from mom's side…or maybe I got a double dose from dad too.' Sam thought, glancing at Mikaela for affirmation before nodding his head. "It's a once in a life time chance." He steeled himself and took her hand, sprinting after Evie.

The unkempt grass carried nettle bushes but she could hardly be bothered by the clinging seeds, eyes and mind trained on what was ahead of them. In the vacant patch of land fire and smoke speckled the deep grooves left behind in the smoldering earth, dirt half packed around the large egg shaped structure that had wrought the damage.

Besides her Sam and Mikaela came to a rest their hands still gripping one another like lifelines as they watched in quiet trepidation. The smoke and the bad lighting made visibility difficult but if they squinted they could see the huge egg-shaped mass unfolding and taking on new form.

Even with the poor view there was one thing they could all discern. It was much bigger than the bright yellow being they were acquainted with. Crouching low it made a quick retreat disappearing into the night, silhouette barely discernable to their eyes.

At the top of the ravine a buzzing of voices filtered through Bumblebee's system, the Ping-Pong of questions and answers was a welcome change to the silence he'd grown accustomed to.

'**_Tooth Fairy? Is that what they call aliens on this planet_**_?_' Ironhide's ornery voice crackled.

_"**I thought I had planned my landing more carefully…it's a bit more populated then I anticipated.**"_ Ratchet fretted.

_"**Don't tell me you already squished someone…**"_ Ironhide sounded rather blasé about the thought. _"**First few moments on the planet and the doc's already gone and splatted someone, figures."**_

_"**Of course not!"**_ Ratchet interjected quickly. "**But** **_any further off and it might have been another story…"_ **he trailed off.

Jazz chattered excitedly, throwing his own thoughts into the mix. "**_Forget about all that, have you guys seen the data network of this place? Bumblebee you were holding out on me! Forwarding the languages was all well and good, but the music is where it's at!"_**

_"**The pertinent information alone was difficult to transmit…**"_ Bumblebee explained. "**_But it's a pretty nice place, music and all."_**

"**_I can't tell if that's sarcasm or not._**_"_ Ironhide grumbled. Without a voice the youngster's simple messages lacked context and frankly he couldn't see how a planet with so much water could be considered nice. 'Almost the whole planet is covered in the stuff…how awful.'

"**_Let's not be so quick to judge_.**" Optimus, ever the sage voice of reason intoned. "_Bumblebee, there were three humans…"_

"**_Sam Witwicky, Mikaela, and Evie_.**" The scout explained. "**_They don't know much yet and there was a bit of an incident earlier with a decepticon__._**" They were probably very confused and if he were to try explaining it himself it'd probably only get worse.

Optimus made a noise, a hum as he thought something over. "**I imagine they'll want an explanation. Set a rendezvous point and send the coordinates."** He ordered, pausing for a moment. "**_I hope to see you in top condition upon arrival…__"_**

"_Better not be anything less after all that training and the hard knocks he's had before_." Ironhide added. "_The last thing you want is Ratchet fussing all over you this early_."

"**_You won't be disappointed_**." Bumblebee responded quickly, more hopeful on the matter then confident. 'Well, no voice does have its upsides. Kind of like the ultimate poker face when it comes to communications.' At least as long as no one could see him. In truth he was actually a bit nervous, but happy. Having been through the area before, he had a decent meeting place in mind and quickly gave them with the information. The communication lines cut away as they each set about navigating the new terrain.

The quick flicker of lights caught Mikaela's attention, turning her head in the direction they'd come from she saw the yellow Camaro flashing its lights. "I think that means the pit stop's over," She said jerking a thumb behind her. "and that it's time to move on to wherever he's taking us."

"Yea…" Sam reluctantly tore his eyes away from the quietly burning earthen gash and moved, returning up the hillside in a subdued pace, Mikaela quietly at his side. 'I can't believe this shit…' he wondered if the unreal, dream like feeling would ever come to an end. The only thing that ruined it was the aches and pains that remained from being tossed about like a ragdoll.

Evie lingered for a moment longer the sting of her teeth sinking into the tender flesh of her bottom lip worriedly. 'Just how many life sustaining planets are even out there?' she pondered as the unwanted thought of Sigourney Weaver in Alien's coming to mind. 'Oh please tell me there aren't chest bursters and face huggers somewhere out there…" her insides protested the thought violently as she caught up with Sam and Mikaela, safely tucking herself back inside the leather interior.

'Sure, giants made of metal with questionable objectives are intimidating and all but something that can live inside you completely unnoticed until it's too late is the level I'm drawling the line at.' Evie thought as she firmly rubbing a bit of the dry flaking blood off her face. It was starting to itch.

The prosperous, busy city of Los Angeles was growing shoddier the longer they drove. Mikaela's eyes flicked towards the clock imbedded in the radio. '7:30? I'm lucky no one's waiting for me to get home…' it was one of the few perks being a foster kid afforded her. "Where exactly are we headed?"

Trying not to think about the major meltdown his parents were going to have when he got home, Sam rolled his shoulders in the universal sign that he really had no clue. "Dunno but I get the feeling we'll be there soon…_if _we don't get pulled over for speeding." His gentle chiding was a subtle reminder to the alien that there were in fact road laws to be observed.

The steady decrease of the speedometer was the only indication that the Camaro was actually paying them any attention.

They took a path that wound through the inner city's back alleys—narrow, cluttered spaces marred with refuse and bad drainage until they finally pulled into an old disused alley behind an out of business automotive shop just as the lights from an oncoming convoy lit up the space. 'Finally.' Bumblebee felt the thrum of excitement as the distinct ache of being alone on a foreign planet finally faded at the sight of them.

The humans had already left his confines, quiet and tentative. 'Probably a little terrified too.' Bumblebee thought, glancing at the death grip Sam had on Mikaela's arm.

'These guys could make a contortionist green with envy…' Evie thought with a cringe, watching what had been a red and white emergency services Humvee rotate it's entire torso around. It made her spine cringe just watching the perceived abuse. 'How does that not hurt? Can these guys even feel pain?' that was whole new can of worms to ponder over.

Still, she took the time to admire the electrocardiograms racing down his forearms. She'd always loved watching the monitors when she worked at the hospital. 'There's just something so satisfying about watching a steady heartbeat. A testament to good work I suppose.'

There was a strange sort of grace in the way that they pulled themselves apart and reassembled into something completely different but the show was utterly stolen by Big Blue and Red. Any thoughts about the yellow muscle car being huge were thrown out the window when put into comparison to the other three; With the exception of the small, sleek silver one who had pretty much break danced through his transformation the Camaro was second to smallest.

Sam could only blink. 'This is just...I mean…damn.' he'd never considered himself the type of guy to go speechless—more often than not he ended up saying _too_ much, a fact that he regretted more often than not but at the moment he was feeling pretty speechless not to mention antsy. "…Evie, maybe you should do the talking. I mean, isn't that like protocol or something? The oldest most qualified person does the communication in situations like this. You're a doctor and the oldest, so that means you." He whispered, nudging her in the ribs with an elbow.

Hissing at not only the painful jab, but his all too willing desire to put her in the forefront, the irate blonde fixed him with a rather disappointed stare. "A. How am I supposed to know protocol for this kinda thing?! It's not like I took a seminar on this. And B. where the hell is your chivalry?!" she wasn't whispering so much as quietly shouting at him.

"A doctor?" Mikaela mumbled, staring at Evie in confusion. "Aren't you a little young?" Sam had mentioned she was his older cousin, but she'd figured by maybe a year or something.

"I'm 21!" Evie realized she was getting progressively louder in her defense quickly quieted down, completely forgetting her earlier assertion that their spectators could no doubt hear them. "I just look really young…" her baby faced features were a sore subject.

'It's hard just getting respect when you look like this.' she thought miserably. With big eyes, blonde hair and a cherubic face, most people couldn't take her seriously which meant she had to work twice as hard just to prove them wrong. True, Evie found that having to prove the preconceived notions of others wrong was both exhausting and fulfilling in equal measures, 'but it's such a hassle…'

Any further dissent among them was quieted when Big Blue and Red kneeled down, completely oblivious to the personal space bubbles he'd just popped. "Are you Samuel James Witwicky, descendant of Archibald Witwicky?" he questioned, the deep tone of his voice surprising all of them.

"Oh well would you look at that…" Evie smiled tersely at her little cousin. "It was for you anyways Sam." Her tone of voice promised future retribution. 'I don't know when but don't you think I'll forget about this, you little jerk.' There was plenty of dirt she could spill on him.

Paying her and the astounded Mikaela next to him very little mind, Sam nodded his head quickly. "Y-yea…that's me, Sam." He replied in a near whisper, wondering what would have happened if he had not been the Sam they were looking for. '

"My name is Optimus Prime; we are autonomous robotic organism's from the planet Cybertron. "he gave off the feeling of being a leader just by his pattern of his speech, and the deep tone of his voice. The overtly proper speech pattern only enhanced the authoritative weight he seemed to carry.

"But you can call us Autobots for short." The one with the electrocardiogram decals intoned, glancing around inquiringly. 'Not what one would call the most auspicious of places is it?' it had a lot of dirt and water going for it, the latter the cause of much consternation for Ironhide if his gripping about it was any indication.

"What's crackin' little bitches?" The tiny in relation to the other's greeted, throwing himself on top of an old clunker of a car in decadent sprawling. It was easy to tell he was about as chill as they came. "This looks like a cool place to kick it!" he was loving the steady thrum of music the planet had going for it. 'Bumblebee was right about one thing; technology wise they might be behind, but the culture is buzzin!'

Optimus nodded his head briefly in the direction of the deceptively small crew member. "My first lieutenant; designation Jazz…" there were times he wished they could be a little more serious, but then as long as they were not derelict in their duties and preformed to standards he would not impose on their unique…eccentricities.

"W-where did he learn to speak like that?" Sam questioned almost frantically. 'The other one never said a word…' it would have been nice to be clued in on what was going on from the get go.

"We learned the earth's languages through the world wide web…" there were of course still some glitches to be worked out but in the short amount of time they had to work with he was most impressed by the progress. Languages were often tricky things which bent and evolved over time making them difficult to grasp. Seeing the restless way Ironhide was carrying himself, Optimus turned his attention therewithal. "And this is our weapons specialist, Ironhide."

"You feeling lucky punk?" He was all black with gleaming chrome— and pointing a rather large cannon at them- or maybe it was just Sam.

The three humans suddenly looked rather tense, cloistering together even tighter.

Evie's face turned rather ashen. "With you pointing a loaded weapon in our direction? Not particularly!" she squeaked.

"Easy Ironhide," Optimus chided with mild vexation. 'It wasn't that long ago you blew up a planet.' It had been an uninhabited, very small planet—but a planet nonetheless and while he doubted Ironhide would misfire, he'd prefer it if the weapon's expert refrained from pointing armaments at non-hostiles.

"Kidding, I just wanted to show them my cannons." Ironhide remarked, not exactly eager to put his toys away. 'Besides they make such funny faces…'

"They're…uhm, impressive." Evie complimented politely, wondering if that was the correct response to the current situation. Ironhide did seem pleased with the compliment though, much more so then Sam who shook his head in thinly veiled discouragement. 'Admittedly it's probably not a good idea to encourage the display of weaponry _too_ much.'

With one more potential crisis averted Optimus turned his attention towards the next crew member. "And our medical officer; Ratchet."

Ratchet had been studying the three diminutive beings in front of him when his introduction began. Despite their rather delicate structure, there was something rather interesting in the way they were composed. He sniffed, olfactory sensors cataloging and placing the distinct scents around them. "The boys pheromones suggest he'd like to mate with…that one." He motioned towards Mikaela.

Sam whistled sharply, avoiding any eye contacted with the dark haired girl standing next to him. 'Well, that just about ruined any chance I had.'

Mikaela glanced off to the side, biting her bottom lip. 'It's not exactly news, but it's also not something you would really announce to the world like that.' But then she supposed that expecting aliens to follow their social standards just seemed a bit silly.

"If it wasn't awkward enough between the two of them before, it certainly will be now." Evie mumbled under her breath, squeaking quietly when she became to subject of Ratchets attention.

"And this one seems to be experiencing a bit of discoloration—fascinating." In the background the blue of Ironhide's eyes could be seen rolling as he shook his head, apparently finding his longtime comrades interests decidedly boring. "and I detect traces of iron…"

Evie flinched, touching the patch of dried blood defensively. "I don't usually look like this…" she explained. "And the iron is probably from the blood." She found it amazing that he could smell Iron and pheromones—perhaps a little creepy as well when she really thought about it.

"_About that..._" Bumblebee took that as a cue to explain. 'It's as good a time as any to bring up the little snag…'

"Barricade?" Ratchet grunted in annoyance. "As much of a brute as ever I see, will you be well?" he inquired, feeling out of his depth. He was certainly not qualified or equipped to treat humans despite whatever similarities they had to other life forms they'd encountered in the past. Bumblebee had only supplied the very basics in his preliminary reports.

"I'll be fine." Evie shyly waved the concern away—she was never good at letting other people doctor her. "It could have been a lot worse." And while she was achy at the moment, tomorrow morning would be horrendous. 'Because Felicia is going to murder me…or Aunt Judy and Uncle Ron' she thought curling into a mental ball.

"This Barricade guy, is that the fake cop car on steroids?" Mikaela asked, wondering what was up with the rather…earthy names they had. 'Seems just a little bit odd.'

"Yea and he's a real nasty piece of scrap." Jazz complained, the car creaking beneath him. "But he ain't all that smart." He was little more than a follower happy to tack on to whatever cause would allow him to commit the most violent acts and get away with it. 'Hope Bumblebee thrashed the sucker good.'

"You already know your guardian, Bumblebee." Optimus patted the youngest of them in greeting. 'Despite the hardships, you've done well.' He thought proudly, knowing it had been a long and difficult few years for the mech.

It was the moment the yellow autobot had been waiting for as he rigorously punched the air. "_Check on the rep, second to none!"_ confidence was important and he wanted them to know he was capable despite his little mishap earlier.

"Bumblebee?" Sam and Evie questioned simultaneously. The names were just getting weirder down the line.

"…Any relation to the earth kind? I mean, bees are great and all; they make honey and have fascinating medical applications, they pollinate plants and pack a nasty sting, but uhm…" Evie rambled, not wanting to seem rude but it _was_ a very odd name for an alien. 'More importantly giant bugs, metal or otherwise are enough to make me hide in a closet and cry for a week. Still better then spiders…' She supposed after a moment of consideration.

It took Ironhide only about a moment to catch onto the reference much to Bumblebee's embarrassment. "That is _purely_ coincidental; He was just clumsy— as in bumbling." He watched with amusement as the Scout slapped a hand over his face. It completely ruined his moment.

"_My_ guardian huh?" Sam grinned to himself. 'Damn that's cool.' He seemed to ignore the implication that Bumblebee might not have been the most graceful, or whether or not the affliction was current or otherwise.

There was an electrical whirl and click that came from Bumblebee as he nodded his assertion only to flinch away when Ratchet fired a diagnostic beam into the old injury. 'I hate when he does that!' he coughed the dust from unused chords and circuits, the sensation of a burning, tingling feeling lingered for a few moments after wards.

"His vocal processors were damaged in battle; I'm still working on it." Ratchet explained glancing at the readings. 'No change, but results are better than expected.' Bumblebee's condition was surprisingly good considering the lack of medical care he'd been privy to recently. 'I suppose the first aid lessons paid off, nice to know.'

'Well, that explains it.' Sam thought. 'I mean how much easier would all this have been if he just said "Dude, relax, its fine I'm not gonna kill you or anything." He probably still would've freaked out but he would have appreciated the effort. In his limited experience life was seldom known for taking the easiest course of action, so Sam supposed he shouldn't be surprised.

Despite the surreal nature the night had taken Mikaela supposed she was taking things stunningly well but it was with no small amount of bewilderment that she finally asked the question pressed heavily to her tongue. "Why are you here?" she really hopped no one was planning a mass invasion. 'Let's hope this is more like E.T and less War of the Worlds…'

"We are here for the Allspark and we must find it before Megatron." Optimus drew to his full height once more.

The grave tone Optimus used set Evie on edge. 'If someone _that_ size is worried, I think we should all be concerned.' Her fingers tapped against her elbow anxiously.

"Mega-what?" Sam countered looking around, to his dismay every autobot in the vicinity seemed to have the same reaction to the utterance; resentment. It was in the way they carried themselves, the stiffness that seemed foreign even for them. 'Whoever that dude is he's certainly not winning any popularity contests with these guys...'

'Showing has always been the best medium.' Optimus touched a panel on the side of his head; the memories of the final days of war on their planet took form, projected for all to see. Their once shining beacon of a planet reduced to nothing but a wasteland as it was faced the ferocity of warring factions and failing infrastructures.

The ground groaned splitting open as the three human's shifted away from the yawning crevices as the glow of red miasma pulsed from within. Evie, in her seemingly infinite curiosity had the guile to toe one of the cracks as if to test its actual existence. 'Solid…projections so advanced they _look_ like the real deal? Check.' She mused, watching the foreign landscape take shape.

"Our planet was once a powerful empire, peaceful and just." Perhaps not _always_, but that was often the case when it came to governments, they became cumbersome and corruptible when left unchecked and tempered. There was a time in their history where castes all but imprisoned them for what was proclaimed to be for the greater good. 'But together we ended that…if only you had not strayed from the path Megatron…' Optimus thought with great regret.

Metal spires twisted up from the miasma of a bleak skied world as a dwindling battle played out before their eyes; in the distance an argent titan reveled in the devastation, head thrown back in rapture as the bodies of his enemies hung from the tower behind him.

'Yea, definitely not a good guy.' Sam thought, a bead of sweat rolling down his face as he stared wide eyed.

"But then we were betrayed by Megatron, the leader of the Decepticons. All who defied them were destroyed and the Allspark was lost to the stars…" it had been little more than a myth, a fable from ages long since passed. That was until it was discovered in an archaeological dig along with the fragmented pieces of five sarcophagi and a single intact one.

Even when their planet was in its darkest hours failing from the inside out and their leaders floundered, what they thought could be their saving construct remained largely unresponsive. 'But that did not stop his corruption, his obsession with power.' For some reason the mech he once considered a brother was convinced that _he_ could change the Allspark, control it.

'It's more like it was purposely launched.' Bumblebee reflected somberly, fingers idling over his chest plate in remembrance of the wound he'd earned in the process of buying time for that particular maneuver. As brutal as Megatron's assault on him had been the fact that he was still functional was a blessing in and of itself. 'Not to mention proof that Ratchet is all skill.' Even if the medic could get a little out of hand sometimes, but that was a different matter entirely.

"Megatron followed it to earth where captain Witwicky found him. It was an accident that entwined our fates. He had crash landed before he could find the Cube. Here, on your planet. Your grandfather accidentally activated Megatron's navigation system and the coordinates for the cube's location were inscribed upon his glasses." By now the projection had long since faded away, the later events Optimus regaled them with were inferred from Bumblebee's investigation—little more than conjecture on their part.

Of course the mention of the spectacles was what really got Sam's attention. "How'd you know about his glasses?!" it was crazy they knew such a tiny detail.

"Ebay." Optimus replied, the simple one word response making the situation far blither then his tone.

'Than again I think it's impossible for this guy not to sound…uh, grave.' Mikaela thought in dim amusement. 'He could make the subject of kittens seem serious.'

"What exactly is this Allspark thing?" Evie questioned, tilting her head up to look at them. 'Because it seems like a big deal if somebody was willing to start a war over it and then chase it across the universe.' But then again Megatron could just be crazy. He hadn't seemed all that put together in Optimus's home video. 'Then again, homicidal maniacs seldom do…'

"Before our time began there was the cube, its origins are not known to us but what is known is that it has the power to create worlds and fill them with life. Legend says that is how our race was born." Optimus explained, studying the small structured creatures in front of him. They were small, seemingly delicate creatures for the volatile universe they existed in. The thought of bringing calamity to their planet due to his decision to use the Allspark as bait worried him the more he imagined the ramifications.

Optimus recalled to himself that in the time that the Allspark had been in their care at Simfur Temple it had given off faint energy spikes and the occasionally odd reading, nevertheless it had remained rather docile for something that gave birth to an entire planet and its inhabitants by Primus' decree. 'But that could have been due to lack of energon and it does not make it less of a threat especially if Megatron is privy to something we are not.' it was not a risk he was willing to take when the lives of others were on the line.

"If I had to take a guess I'd say that if the Decepticons find the Allspark they'll use its power to transform earth's machines and build a new army." Ratchet added, shaking his head at the miserable thought. He may be a soldier when the situation called for it but he was a doctor first and foremost and reviled the loss of life when possible. 'An army he'll no doubt use against the humans.' Whatever good Megatron might once have had never extended to those outside his own kind even when he hadn't been a corrosive, devastating force.

"And the human race will be extinguished in the process." Optimus seemed to share the thoughts of his comrade and he had known the decepticon leader longer and far better than anyone else. "Sam Witwicky _you_ hold the key to earth's survival."

Sam gulped nervously, suddenly feeling as though all eyes were on him. 'Because, hey they are!' he quipped to himself miserably. He was glad for once that Evie remained quiet.

"Please tell me you have those glasses?" Mikaela begged, voice trembling. 'If that cube thingy can do all the things they say it can we are in some deep shit.'

"Yea, it's at uh- home…somewhere." Sam dragged a nervous hand over his face.

"Somewhere?" Ironhide quoted doubtfully, his optics rolling towards the sky. "That sounds promising." Pinning the world on a squishy, unimpressive specimen like Sam seemed like a universal joke. 'What do I know about cosmic design or anything like that? Philosophy is more Prime's thing than mine.'

"How was I supposed to know they were important?!" Sam cried in defense of himself, hands thrown in the air as he paced nervously. 'This is what I get for trying to sell off family history, isn't it? Talk about karma.' eBay was turning out to be the devil in his life. "And why are we still standing here talking when we should be going?" he questioned curtly.

Swiftly taking him by the shoulder, Evie preempted any further panicking. "Before we go anywhere, you and I better get our story straight considering your supposed to be grounded and I-well I look like I got into a bar fight and probably lost... badly." She looked to Mikaela worriedly "You don't have a curfew or anything, do you?"

"No I'm good…they probably haven't even noticed I'm not there." Mikaela brushed the concern aside with practiced ease.

Picking up the vaguely bitter way that Mikaela spoke,Evie filed it away for later perusal. "Well, with any luck no one's called the cops, the real cops.'" She nearly jumped out of her skin when Optimus leaned in on them a second time. .

"You haven't committed any crimes, have you?" he clearly disapproved of law-breaking.

"There have been a lot of laws broken tonight but not a single one by us, promise." Evie found it a little amusing that he was so concerned with their planet's laws. 'I suppose I shouldn't mention Bumblebee's speeding or the destruction of private property they probably caused in their landing.'

Clearing her throat to return to her previous point, Evie continued, turning back to Sam. "We can't just waltz home without some sort of explanation for where we've been. So… listen closely." She spoke, squishing the teen boy's face between her hands to garner his full attention.

Mikaela didn't bother hiding how entertained their current interaction was to her lips quirking at Sam's squished face. 'Must be nice to have a close family...' Besides a few friends of her father checking on her occasionally or the one that gave her an after school job she really didn't have anyone to depend on like Sam did. 'Sure, I get a phone call, some letters and a few cards from Dad around the holidays, but nothing like this.'

"I was out, I had an accident. Some crazy person on a bike nearly ran me over." Sam had the decency to flinch, but Evie continued without pausing. "I fell, busted my head and broke my phone. You following so far?" she felt him nod just slightly beneath her hands. "Good. I called you to come get me on the house phone since yours was lost last night, you of course had no car—since it was stolen so it took a while and that's all there is to it." Easy to remember and close enough to the truth.

'Those are always the best kind of lies.' Although having to lie to Judith and Ron wasn't exactly something she was happy with, telling them the truth seemed just as unsavory. 'They would freak-out and understandably so.' Evie thought, biting her bottom lip nervously.

"Okay, okay I got it." Sam jerked away from her, rubbing his face as he avoided looking at his crush. 'Why does everything embarrassing have to happen to me when she's right there?'

Evie looked up to Optimus with a cheery smile. "Well, by your leave."

A solemn nod was issued from Optimus to his subordinates and they quickly assumed their incognito modes.

Not wanting to subject herself to what was going to be a long and more than likely awkward drive home with Sam and Mikaela dancing around one another and whatever was going on between them, Evie turned to the nearest autobot 'Ratchet.' She recognized with a hopeful smile. "Mind if I catch a ride back with you?"

"Not at all." Although Ratchet wondered if she wouldn't be more comfortable with Bumblebee, or even Jazz who were both by far the friendliest and overeager of them he wasn't going to refuse the request. Especially when she seemed desperate enough to ask.

"Well… I guess it's just you, me, and Bumblebee." Sam said, normally he'd consider being alone with her a winning situation but he technically wasn't alone with her. 'And now she knows I'm most certainly interested her as more than a friend. ' Evie had the foresight to bail out of what she undoubtedly knew was going to be an uncomfortable situation. Unfortunately he didn't have that luxury.

Sensing his reluctance Mikaela smiled somewhat. "Don't worry, I don't bite. Not too sure about the car though..."she teased, joke furthered by the roar of Bumblebee's engine. 'I mean it's not like I didn't have a clue or anything…' awkward sure, but not insurmountable after the crazy night she'd had so far.

Sam laughed slightly patted the hood of the Camaro fondly. "I don't know if he bites, but he definitely packs a punch!" now that they weren't in danger of dying, he could freely consider just how awesome the idea of fighting robots actually was. 'And it is pretty freaking sweet.'

"Okay the three of you can totally stop flirting now." Evie called from Ratchet's passenger seat. As entertained as she was with their little repartee, they really needed to get moving. "You really did a number on those two by dropping that pheromone comment." She remarked as Sam and Mikaela both flushed, ducking into the yellow Camaro.

"I suppose I shouldn't have said that, was it terribly rude?" In his defense it had seemed rather obvious, even without the excessive pheromones.

"Oh maybe just a little." Evie said gently, looking around the cabin curiously. The details were spot on, with the exception of missing medical supplies and she idly wondered why that was since Bumblebee had been able to make an airfreshener and a disco ball. "Would it be terribly rude of me if I asked how this is even possible?" she swept her hands about widely.

It wasn't hard to tell that the diminutive female was completely awed. "I'm afraid you might want to be a bit more specific. Are you talking about the situation in general or us as a species?"

"You." Evie laughed, tucking a few wayward strands behind her ear. "Call it a doctor's curiosity."

Now that he could understand and empathize with. "A complicated question, but I suppose one would be best served to start at the spark of it all." Ratchet said enthusiastically. It was not every day he got a chance to discuss his trade in depth to willing ears.

"The spark? As in the same one Optimus was talking about earlier?" Evie recalled as she drew her knees to her chest.

"Yes and no. The premise is the same in a way. They both provide vital functions necessary for life." Or the Allspark used to when it had been fully functioning but that was from a time beyond his memory. "And they both require energon to carry out those actions." From his right mirror he could see the way her brows scrunched.

Ratchet continued on to alleviate her confusion on the matter. "It's a fuel source, without it we would cease functioning. It's what energizes our sparks, If we take too much damage and our ability to circulate it is impeded badly enough—well, we offline. The same thing would occur if the spark incurs too much damage." In a way he felt as though he were teaching a hatchling, especially when she lit up as if figuring out something spectacular.

"So, basically sparks are like hearts and energon is what blood is to the human body." Evie explained, snapping her fingers happily as she explained the link between the two further. "If the heart takes on damage or it's impeded, unable to circulate blood throughout the body we'd die. The same happens if we bleed out." Maybe she shouldn't sound so happy about it, but it was interesting to see just how they related to one another anatomically speaking.

"Oh? Fascinating..." On the other hand slightly worrying since he had no idea how much of the substance humans could afford to lose. The last thing they needed was a medical mishap so early. "But the spark is no mere physical construct. It's considered to be spiritual in a way. It's what makes us-Us or so we say."

"Sounds like a soul to me." Evie countered after a quiet moment of reflection. "The heart is often used as a euphemism for it, but that's getting into philosophy I suppose…you know the typical questions; where does it reside, does it even exist?" her way of speaking gallivanted as she shrugged her shoulders and in effect the questions away. "But there are people who will argue that the soul doesn't exist in the way we think it does, that the brain is really what decides all of that."

It sounded awfully familiar as Ratchet recalled many a debate about sparks and personality components. 'a bit peculiar how familiar it seems, not to mention interesting.' Maybe even enough to warrant further study. 'Time permitting of course...' At the moment everything hinged on keeping the Decepticons from finding the Allspark and taking control of it. What came after was well, complicated.

An unwitting Evie struck at that matter with her next question. "So what happens when you get the Allspark? I mean…your planet didn't look too, uh—good." She paused, turning apologetic, "Sorry, am I being too nosy?" it was really difficult to not ask questions though.

Truthfully he didn't mind her inquisitive nature, in fact it was a welcome reaction to what it could have been which included; terrified shrieking, quiet horror, disgust, mistrust, and diabolical plotting. Having come across numerous planets in their rather long history he knew not everyone was so content to learn that there were other intelligent, advanced life forms out there.

The conundrum was that he had no clear cut answer, so Ratchet settled for the best one available. "Primus willing, we'll return home." That would be the ideal scenario.

For a moment she debated asking about what, or who Primus was but decided against it, feeling as though she'd already asked enough of him and given nothing in return. "Must be hard having to be so far away from home, from everything you're used to." Evie fiddled with the buttons at her cuffs awkwardly. 'It's one thing to go a few states away, or even a country—but a whole planet? Talk about culture shock.' she thought in empathy.

"It's not so bad, you get to see new places and meet different…people, but home would certainly be a welcome sight." Ratchet admitted fondly. 'Or rather a thriving, vibrant Cybertron would be.'

Evie smiled and patted the window. "It's good to look on the bright side, but I do hope you get to return home soon. Earth's great and all but probably not what you're used to, no place like home right?"

"That's one way of putting it." Ratchet made a noise that sounded quite a bit like a sigh to Evie's ears. "You mentioned that there was iron in your blood if a recall correctly, how much of you is metal?" he wondered.

"Not nearly as much as you," Evie snickered in jest. "It's a bit hard to quantify but we do have amounts of Iron, copper, zinc and manganese—along with a few others. They might be small in amount but they play a pretty big role." She was thankful he was asking a few questions of his own otherwise they would have lapsed into a polite, but awkward for her silence.

"It must be nearly minute amounts considering how…soft, humans seem to be." Ratchet said mostly to himself as he mulled over the information.

"Well by comparison to you guys, I guess we do some pretty flabby." Evie was hopeful that they were the exception to extraterrestrial life and not the rule. 'Well, that little stick guy Mikaela decapitated was pretty small…and Jazz isn't exactly giant in comparison to Optimus either.' it told her that the people from their planet were extremely diverse when it came to size.

Glancing out the window as she chatted with Ratchet about the purpose of Iron in the human body, Evie caught sight of the "Welcome to Tranquility" sign and scoffed to herself.

Any town that had aliens passing through momentarily or residing in it for any length of time was bound to be anything but tranquil.

* * *

This chapter was really difficult, simply because there were so many people to write and because its where I start having to laying down the foundations of the world that I'm building up. Picking and choosing what pieces to use from what continuity is a really big task but enjoyable nonetheless.

There is a lot of foreshadow in this chapter...just putting that out there for you. Make of it what you will, I'd loved to see some speculations on what it might be about.

On the subject of transformers I would just like to say that Optimus is super hard to write for me, Ironhide comes pretty easily and his banter with Ratchet is enjoyable to write-along with him picking on Bee. Jazz will have more of a presence in the beginning of the next chapter because I feel like he got a little slighted.

I think it's important that everyone gets love and attention paid to them, because they're all such wonderful characters but it can feel like I'm not giving them enough attention at times and I worry about it-so if anyone thinks someone isn't getting their dues, lemme know.

To the two guest reviewers who complimented Evie, Thank you! I try really hard to make her seem like a real person-and not not let her take over everything, Shes got her part and her place, but it won't be for a while yet.

So with that adieu until next time, I'm going to eat soup and cuddle with a fluffy dog.


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